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Kidnapping Charges Added to Complaint Filed Against Mercer County Corrections Officer

Mercer County

The county corrections officer arrested Sunday and charged with sexual assault now faces charges connected to a second victim, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri and Trenton Police Director Ernest Parrey Jr. reported today.

Complaints were filed Thursday afternoon charging Donald J. Ryland, 44, with kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, and aggravated assault.

The charges pertain to an incident that occurred on October 12 when Trenton patrol units responded to a residence on Riverside Avenue for an unknown trouble call. Officers located the adult female victim with a visible laceration and swelling of her left eye.

The victim described the suspect and stated she entered his vehicle and was driven to an unknown area. When she got to the porch of an unknown residence, the suspect grabbed her by the throat, put her in a headlock, struck her head against the porch and punched her in the head before sexually assaulting her and fleeing the area.

Anyone with information on the case should contact Mercer County Prosecutor’s SVU Detective Anthony Petracca at (609) 989-6424 or Trenton Police Detective Laurel Rogers at (609) 989- 4155.

According to authorities, Ryland is scheduled for a detention hearing on October 25 at 10 a.m.

Despite having been charged, every defendant is presumed innocent until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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