Irvington Man Sentenced For The 2015 Knifepoint Sexual Assault Of A Young Woman

Tuesday, December 2, 2025, 3:00 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

IRVINGTON, NJ.- A 43-year-old Irvington, New Jersey, man learned he will be nearly eighty years old when he is released from New Jersey State Prison, after being sentenced late last month for the November 2015, brutal knifepoint rape of a woman in front of her infant son.

     According to Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II, on Friday, November 21, 2025, Kervin Joseph-Michel, 43, of Irvington, New Jersey, appeared in Essex County Superior Court and was sentenced to 34 years and six months in State Prison, after being convicted last year on charges relating to the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 21-year-old Irvington, New Jersey, that occurred on November 4, 2015.

     On February 8, 2024, following a trial in Essex County Superior Court, a jury found Joseph-Michel guilty of first-degree Kidnapping; first-degree Aggravated Sexual Assault While Armed; third-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child; and fourth-degree Aggravated Assault. The jury additionally found Joseph-Michel guilty of assaulting the woman’s boyfriend when he arrived home during the sexual assault.

     The trial was put on hold for nearly a decade because Joseph-Michel was deemed incompetent to stand trial multiple times.

     During the trial, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office presented evidence that proved beyond a reasonable doubt that on November 4, 2015, Joseph-Michel approached the woman as she was walking to her Irvington home carrying her three-week-old son. Joseph-Michel repeatedly attempted to engage in a conversation with her. The woman rejected his advances and continued walking home, unaware that Joseph-Michel was following her.

     Once inside her home, Joseph-Michel placed what he said was a gun to her back and forced her into the foyer, where he sexually assaulted her at knifepoint.

     Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Celeste Montesino, who tried the case, said, “The victim in this case is a hero. She showed extraordinary courage in the face of terrible violence against her and her immediate family. I hope that she finds peace knowing that this defendant will no longer be able to hurt her or anyone else.”