32-Year-Old Queens, New York Man Charged With Repeatedly Sexually Assaulting A Child Under 16 Years Old

Friday, July 26, 2024, 2:30 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

ALPINE, NJ.- Today, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella reported that a 32-year-old Queens, New York, man was taken into custody and charged in connection with the multiple sexual assaults of a child under the age of sixteen that occurred in Alpine, New Jersey.

     On Tuesday, July 23, 2024, after receiving a report, the Alpine Police Department contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit regarding the alleged sexual assault of a child under the age of sixteen that began this March. A joint investigation into the allegations was launched.

     During the investigation, Detectives of the Bergen County Special Victims Unit and the Alpine Police Department interviewed witnesses, including the child victim, and determined that Jelani McKenzie, 32, while employed as support services director at a youth camp, sexually assaulted a child under the age of sixteen on multiple occasions in Alpine, New Jersey.

     Accordingly, at the conclusion of the investigation, on Thursday, July 25, 2024, Detectives charged McKenzie with four counts of first-degree Aggravated Sexual Assault; second-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child; and three counts of third-degree Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

     Today, Detectives of the Bergen County Special Victims Unit and the Alpine Police Department, with assistance from Officers of the New York City Police Department and special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, located and arrested McKenzie in Queens, New York.

     McKenzie was taken into custody and remanded to the New York Department of Correction and will be detained at Rikers Island pending extradition to Bergen County, New Jersey.

“The rules of the court require us to include a statement that states: The charges outlined in this publication are merely accusations, and the defendant and or defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”