George Naeder outside Starbucks on March 18.
A Red Bank man featured in a redbankgreen article last week about his dog's ability to attract the attention of women was arrested and charged with a sexual offense against a teenage girl, Red Bank police report.
George Naeder Jr., 52, of West Front Street, was arrested last Friday night after a 15-year-old Colts Neck girl told police he had inappropriately touched her while she was holding Naeder's dog, according to department spokesman Capt. Steve McCarthy.
The alleged assault occurred between 8:30 and 9p that night outside the Starbucks on Broad Street, where Naeder's dog, Tiffany, was tied to a lampost, McCarthy says.
The redbankgreen story and photos were published a day earlier after an encounter with Naeder at the same location. He identified himself to us as 'J.R.' Naeder.
According to McCarthy, the victim was one of four teenage girls who stopped to pet the dog. At one point, as the girl was holding the dog, Naeder put his arm around her, reached inside her jacket and touched her breast, McCarthy says.
The girls left the scene and called police, who were familiar with Naeder from the redbankgreen story and from having previously seen him downtown, McCarthy says. The suspect was arrested about an hour later at his West Front Street home and charged with aggravated criminal sexual contact, McCarthy says.
The alleged assault is considered aggravated under the law because the victim is under 16 years old and the alleged perpetrator is more than five years older, he says.
Bail was set at a full $25,000 and Naeder was taken to the Monmouth County jail in Freehold. As of this morning, he appeared to have been bailed out, McCarthy says.
Margaret Odell, a Little Silver woman who stopped to play with the dog and was featured in our story, says she is saddened to learn about the charges. Though she had not previously met Naeder, she says she would be willing to "sit in court on his behalf" because "everybody is innocent until proven guilty."
"It's a scary, litigious world we live in," she says.
