Opinion ID: 1489684
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: E.H. (October 7, 1981)

Text: On October 7, 1981, J.M.B. offered a ride to fifteen-year-old E.H., who was hitchhiking to school. According to E.H., J.M.B. asked him if he wanted to get high, and when he answered affirmatively, they drove to a wooded area. E.H. reported that, once there, J.M.B. grabbed him by the hair, threw him to the ground, held a knife to his throat, and told him to lie on his stomach. E.H. managed to run to a nearby house where the police were called. He suffered a throat wound that required five stitches. J.M.B., on the other hand, claimed that he was giving E.H. a ride to school when E.H. directed him to the wooded area and then offered him a bag of pills. He claimed that E.H. became angry and attempted to punch him when J.M.B. informed him that he had no money. J.M.B. claimed that he swung back and that E.H. threw a rock at him. On March 2, 1982, J.M.B. was indicted in Somerset County for second-degree aggravated assault and third-degree criminal restraint. The indictment issued in conjunction with a Middlesex County indictment based on events that took place one month later in that county and are described hereinafter. The E.H. incident has no established connection to sexual assault beyond expert opinion, offered before the commitment court, which identified the behavior in that fashion. The commitment court did not find this conviction to involve facts that permitted the offense to be considered a sexually violent offense under subsection (b). Although J.M.B. ultimately pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal restraint for his encounter with E.H., J.M.B. did not admit to any sexual gratification from this incident and, in fact, he claimed that he was assaulted by E.H. Furthermore, even E.H. apparently attributed a monetary motivation to the assault because he offered J.M.B. decongestant tablets if he would let him go.