Crime & Safety

Bethlehem Man Charged with Raping Woman High on Drugs

East Hills man at first denied the attack on a woman, but confessed after he failed a lie detector test on Tuesday, court papers say.

A Bethlehem man has been charged with raping a woman while she was incapacitated from taking a “controlled substance,” according to court papers.

Johann A. Fermin-Jensen, 21, who lives in the East Hills section of the city, was charged with rape on Wednesday—a day after he failed a lie detector test and then admitted to the attack to his examiner, according to court papers.

According to the arrest affidavit, the alleged attack happened on Feb. 27 at Fermin-Jensen’s home. The 20-year-old victim told Bethlehem police that she had asked Fermin-Jensen, via text message, to check on her because she was under the influence of a “controlled substance,” which was not specified in the affidavit.

Find out what's happening in Bethlehemwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The victim told police that when Fermin-Jensen came to check on her, he raped her, the affidavit says. She also told police that she was unable to move because of the drugs, but that she was aware that the assault was occurring.

Police interviewed Fermin-Jensen about the allegation, in the presence of an attorney, on March 5, the affidavit says. He denied the charges, but agreed to take a polygraph examination to be administered by Pennsylvania State Police.

Find out what's happening in Bethlehemwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

He failed the lie detector test on Tuesday and then confessed to the assault to the examiner, the affidavit says.

In addition to rape, Fermin-Jensen was charged with sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault.

He was arraigned before District Judge James Narlesky of Hanover Township and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $250,000 bail.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.