IRVINGTON, NJ — A man was sentenced to 34½ years in prison for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman in 2015.
Kervin Joseph-Michel, 43, of Irvington, was sentenced on Nov. 21 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.
Joseph-Michel was convicted on Feb. 8, 2024, of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 21-year-old woman on Nov. 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.
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 showed extraordinary courage in the face of terrible violence against her and her immediate family.
