Long Branch teen faces sex assault charges LONG BRANCH - A 17-year-old city resident is facing sexual assault charges stemming from an alleged home invasion and assault that occurred last year. An arrest was made Feb. 2 after police gathered evidence from the female victim and the results of forensic evidence from the reported Sept. 27 crime, according to police reports. Police arrested and charged the 17-yearold Long Branch juvenile with burglary, kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault with a weapon, and unlawful possession of a weapon, according to police reports. The accused was taken to the Monmouth County Juvenile Correctional Facility in Freehold, according to reports. On Sept. 27, Long Branch police responded to a CooperAvenue home after receiving a report of a home invasion and assault, according to police reports. At the scene of the incident, police found a 19-year-old female bleeding from a laceration to her head, according to reports. Police learned that an assailant had entered the victim's home wearing a stockingcap style mask over his face and carrying an object believed to be a gun, according to reports. The accused demandedmoney fromthe victim and then forced her from the home through the back door, according to police reports. The victim told police that she was forced to the side of a parked car near the home and was sexually assaulted by the accused, according to reports. The female victim said she struggled with the accused and was struck in the back of the head by an unknown object as she attempted to flee the scene, according to reports. The victim was treated at the scene by Long Branch First Aid for the head laceration, and did not seek further treatment at the hospital, according to reports.