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Stephen E. Sweet, the pastor at Grace's Lutheran Church in River Edge, became the center of an investigation on Thursday, July 11, on a tip that he'd sexually assaulted a juvenile in the past, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
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Sweet sexually assaulted the victim multiple times when she was between the ages of 13 and 18 at various locations in River Edge, Paramus, and Ridgewood, according to the criminal complaint and Musella.
The criminal complaint obtained by Daily Voice said Sweet penetrated the victim both with his penis and with his finger when she was between ages 13 and 18 years old, multiple times.
Specifically, when the victim was over 16 but younger than 18, Sweet performed oral sex on the victim, and instructed and allowed her to perform oral sex on him multiple times between 2016 and 2018, according to the criminal complaint obtained by Daily Voice.
Between 2013 and 2016, the pastor "committed an act of sexual contact upon the victim, for the purpose of sexually arousing or sexually gratifying himself," when the victim was older than 13 but younger than 16 — specifically by contacting the victim's vagina with his hand, police papers say. This happened at least four times.
Sweet was arrested and charged with counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, ten counts of second-degree sexual assault, three counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, three counts of third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact, and three counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact.
Sweet's Facebook profile shows he has ties to West Freehold and studied at Western Maryland College.
Grace Lutheran Church's website says Sweet was ordained and installed at Grace in 1997, becoming its seventh pastor.
Sweet holds degrees in psychology, counseling and sociology, and a Master of Divinity degree from the Lutheran Theological Seminary of Philadelphia, the church's website says. He is married and has two grown sons, the website adds.
The pastor was arrested in Paramus and remanded to the Bergen County Jail for a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
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