SPRINGFIELD — Police are seeking possible additional victims of a 28-year-old Middlesex County man charged with sexually assaulting two young girls he met after posing as a teenager on Facebook. Michael Sebastian, of Perth Amboy, already charged in the attack of one 14-year-old girl he met on the social network, was accused yesterday in a separate incident. The allegations...
View full sizeMichael Sebastian SPRINGFIELD — Police are seeking possible additional victims of a 28-year-old Middlesex County man charged with sexually assaulting two young girls he met after posing as a teenager on Facebook.
Michael Sebastian, of Perth Amboy, already charged in the attack of one 14-year-old girl he met on the social network, was accused yesterday in a separate incident.
The allegations make the case one of the most egregious in recent memory, said Parry Aftab, a leading cyber crime expert whose firm, WiredSafety, is a member of Facebook’s international Safety Advisory Board.
"We have not seen a case this serious in quite a while — probably in a few years," said Aftab, a Wyckoff resident. "It’s because kids are generally getting a little smarter. This just tells us we have to do a better job."
Both victims are from Union County, said Albert Cernadas Jr., Union County’s first assistant prosecutor. He said investigators worry the man may have attacked other girls who haven’t yet come forward.
"The detectives have been working nonstop to identify potential additional victims and we urge anyone with relative information to contact our office or the Springfield police department," Cernadas said.
In the latest case, Sebastian posed as a 17-year-old named Chris so he could Facebook "friend" a 14-year-old — the same age of his other alleged victim, who he stalked to a store in Springfield, Cernadas said. The teen agreed to meet him, unlike the other girl, who had initially refused his advances, the prosecutor said.
Sebastian was charged yesterday with exchanging text messages with the girl, picking her up from her house and driving her to a motel on Route 22, where he gave her alcohol and then sexually assaulted her, Cernadas said. The victim escaped, ran across the highway and called a family member from a nearby restaurant, the prosecutor said.
The man, already in custody since his arrest Friday, was charged yesterday with three new counts: second-degree luring, third-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and fourth-degree criminal sexual contact.
In the incident he was charged with Friday, Sebastian found out where his victim would be by checking Facebook, authorities said. When the girl walked out of a store in Springfield on Sept. 8, the man was waiting in his car, Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said earlier this week. Sebastian allegedly lured the girl inside, parked the car in the lot and sexually assaulted her.
The girl’s parents learned about the assault after reading communications between the two on Facebook, Romankow said.
Authorities said yesterday it is "unclear" if the two victims know each other.
"It is a horrible, tragic story, but it reminds us all that there are bad guys out there," Aftab said. "If somebody gets creepy, report them."
Sebastian was arrested on Friday at his office in the Skillman section of Montgomery, where he worked as a lab technician, authorities said. He was charged with second-degree sexual assault, second-degree luring and third-degree endangering the welfare of a minor.
Sebastian’s bail was raised to $175,000 yesterday. He remained at the Union County jail.
Authorities ask anyone with information to contact prosecutor’s office Detective Patricia Gusmano at (908) 527-4589 or Springfield police Detective Jim Morton at (973) 376-0400.