Camden man, 19, arraigned in recent series of sex assaults

A 19-year-old Camden man was arraigned Friday on more than a dozen criminal charges in connection with a recent series of sexual assaults in the city.

Kevin D. Cleveland of the 400 block of Rand Street was taken into custody Thursday morning in connection with a robbery and was then also charged with several counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, first-degree kidnapping, and weapons offenses, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said.

Superior Court Judge Samuel Natal ordered him held with bail set at $800,000.

Cleveland is alleged to be the man involved in three daytime attacks - on Jan. 17 and 22, and Feb. 11 - in a secluded section of Farnham Park near Baird and Park Boulevards.

About 5:30 p.m. Jan. 17, a 13-year-old girl was approached with a handgun, was ordered to remove her clothing and get on her hands and knees, and was sexually assaulted, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

The second attack took place about 3 p.m. Jan. 22, when a 20-year-old woman was approached by a man with a gun. She, too, was ordered to remove her clothes and get on the ground, and was sexually assaulted, prosecutors said.

The victim in the most recent confirmed assault in the same part of Farnham Park was a 16-year-old, on Feb. 11.

The girl was grabbed by the neck and, though she did not see a weapon, her attacker threatened to stab her. In addition to raping her on the ground, the assailant punched her in the face, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

The man who attacked her ordered the girl to stay in the park for some time until he returned. When he came back, he assaulted her again and took a school paper bearing personal identifiers, a laptop, and cellphone.

Some community leaders were upset about what they said was a delay in informing the public of the rapes.

Just a few hours before Cleveland's scheduled arraignment, a group of residents led by Ali Sloan El, Angel Cordero, and Minister Wasim Muhammad held a news conference denouncing the city's delay in informing the public.

A media advisory was first put out Feb. 13, two days after the third reported rape.

"That's unacceptable," Sloan El said later. "We possibly could have caught him ourselves after the first one."

Camden Police Chief Scott Thomson said he had reviewed the handling and notifications of the sexual assault cases with the prosecutor and believed that the Police Department "acted appropriately in each step of the process."

Sloan El also asked whether school officials knew of the rapes, which occurred within walking distance of a few schools, including Camden High School.

Camden School Superintendent Bessie LeFra Young did not return calls for comment.

The details the victims provided led investigators to believe that the man attacking girls in the park was the same person who robbed a girl of $137 on Jan. 2. During a photo lineup, the robbery victim picked out Cleveland's picture and identified him as her assailant, officials said.

Once Cleveland was taken into custody on Thursday, his house, which is near the park, was searched. Police found the laptop and cellphone stolen from one of the sexual assault victims, officials said. Also, an identification card belonging to one of the victims was hidden in the ceiling of the home.

The 13-year-old victim identified Cleveland as her attacker in a photo array.

According to prosecutors, during an interview with investigators Cleveland stated that he had sexual intercourse with two females in Farnham Park on two occasions and that he took a laptop and MP3 player from one of the victims.

If found guilty of all offenses, Cleveland could face a sentence of up to 100 years.