Salem man, 19, accused of sexually assaulting two people in SE Salem
Police have arrested a 19-year-old Salem man accused of sexually assaulting people on two separate occasions in a southeast Salem business district.
Jonathan Muhire was lodged Friday morning at the Marion County Jail on accusations of first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree unlawful sexual penetration, first-degree kidnapping, unlawful use of a weapon, menacing, strangulation and fourth-degree assault.
The Salem Police Department provided no details in a news release about how Muhire is accused of using a weapon. State court records also showed no formal charges filed against him as of Friday morning.
Both attacks occurred in the area of Southeast Commercial Street and Southeast Barnes Avenue, Salem police said in an earlier statement on Tuesday. The area is just south of Kuebler Boulevard.
A woman told police she was walking in the area on Sunday around 4:30 p.m. when a man approached and assaulted her. The victim escaped and the man fled, according to the police statement.
Less than 12 hours later, police suspected that the same man assaulted a teenager in that area around 4 a.m. the next morning. The teen was walking when a man approached and assaulted them, according to the statement. A passerby confronted the suspect, who then ran away.
Salem police said at the time that they searched thoroughly for the suspect but couldn’t find him. Later that morning, the agency shared a description of the suspect and asked the public for help.
Early Friday morning, detectives searched the 5200 block of Southeast Salal Street and arrested Muhire “without incident,” according to the updated statement.
“Since the reporting of the crimes earlier this week, detectives have been working rotating shifts on an around the clock detail to follow up on leads and conduct surveillance. This relentless work led detectives to be able to quickly apprehend Muhire,” police said in the statement.
Muhire is scheduled to be arraigned at the Marion County Criminal Court Annex at 2:30 p.m. on Monday.
Public court records showed no previous criminal history for Muhire in Oregon.
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Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered the justice system and public safety for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
