South Orange Woman Assaulted at St. Joseph's Rectory

A South Orange woman who works at the rectory at in Maplewood was assaulted on Wednesday morning by an intruder in her basement office.

While the suspect did not have a weapon, he viciously beat the woman. Family friends report that she suffered traumatic injuries that required surgery.

Maplewood Police Chief Robert Cimino confirmed the incident this afternoon after a press conference in Newark announcing the . Cimino characterized the crime as an assault and reported that no weapon was involved. He noted that he had not yet been fully briefed on the crime due to time he was spending on the investigation of — an anomaly in Maplewood, which has not seen a homicide in 18 months.

According to a family friend, the victim of the assault entered her office in St. Joseph's rectory Wednesday morning to turn on the portable heater. There she found a young man crouched behind the desk.

The woman asked what he was doing, and he said, "I am hungry."

She offered to find him something to eat, but the intruder knocked her down as she walked out of the office and started kicking her in the head and neck. 

The victim reported that her earrings, necklace, wallet and keys were stolen.

Thus far, there is no description of the suspect aside from the fact that he was young.

This is a developing story. Patch will update as more information becomes available.