By: Richard L. Smith
Essex County officials reported today that an Irvington man was sentenced on November 21, 2025, to 34½ years in prison for first-degree kidnapping, first-degree aggravated sexual assault while armed with a knife, third-degree endangering the welfare of a child,and fourth-degree aggravated assault.
In an earlier statement, Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II said Kervin Joseph-Michel, 43, was convicted on February 8, 2024, of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 21-year-old woman in Irvington on November 4, 2015.
He was also convicted of assaulting the victim’s boyfriend who arrived home during the sexual assault.
The trial was delayed for nearly a decade because the defendant was deemed incompetent to stand trial multiple times.
Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II said the prosecution proved that Joseph-Michel approached the victim as she was walking home while carrying her three-week-old infant son.
The defendant repeatedly tried to engage her in conversation. The victim rejected his advances and continued walking home.
She was unaware that Joseph-Michel followed 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.”