N.J. Man Charged in Rape, Kidnapping Returned to Pa.

A New Jersey man accused of beating and raping a Bethlehem woman before kidnapping her and their 11-month-old son was arraigned before a Northampton County district judge on Tuesday.

Frederick Hernandez, 21, of Garfield, N.J., had been awaiting extradition in a New Jersey prison since he was arrested the day after the alleged rape and abductions on July 25.

He is jailed in Northampton County Prison in lieu of the $500,000 bail set by District Judge Nancy Matos-Gonzalez. A preliminary hearing is scheduled on Aug. 28.

He is charged with two counts each of kidnapping and unlawful restraint and one count each of rape, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault and terroristic threats.

According to the criminal complaint filed by police, Hernandez ostensibly visited his ex-girlfriend’s Sioux Street home to see his son on the afternoon of July 25. But the visit became an argument and the argument became an assault.

Then he decided to drive the woman and their baby back to his home in Garfield, 87 miles away from Bethlehem.

A criminal complaint filed by Bethlehem Det. Christopher Beebe describes how Hernandez became “irritated” because the woman rejected his “desire to resume a romantic relationship.”

Family members discovered the woman and the infant were missing, as were some of their belongings, when they went to the home about 10:30 p.m., police said. They also found a note that she managed to scribble without Hernandez’s knowledge: ”He broke my phone … help ... call Fred’s … kidnapped, raped me,” the note reads.

The complaint also says:

·  Hernandez, a big man at 6-feet-2 and 220 pounds, beat the woman in the basement and the woman, fearing the beating would continue, “reluctantly” had sex with him “against her will.”

·  He then took her to a bedroom, where he ripped off her clothes and forced himself upon her. When they were interrupted by noises “outside,” Hernandez kicked her twice in the abdomen and told her she and the boy were going with him to New Jersey.

·  After writing the note, she unsuccessfully tried to run away with the boy. Fearing Hernandez would do more harm to her – and possibly to the boy – she agreed to go with him to Garfield, about 87 miles from Bethlehem.

·  Hernandez would not let her retrieve the infant’s child-safety seat. He forced her to strap the boy into a vehicle seat with a standard seat belt.

·  Hernandez told her “multiple times” while driving that he “wanted her dead so that he could live a happy life with just the baby.”