Teens Accused of Sex Assault Will be Tried as Adults

Two Morristown teens accused of sexually assaulting a girl in 2011 will be tried as adults, according to the Star-Ledger.

The defendants, Aquil Malik and Dequan McDaniel, were 17 at the time of the alleged incident in September 2011. Now 19, they could face up to 20 years in prison. Were they tried as juveniles, the maximum allowable sentence would have been four years.

The previously-unidentified pair were 17 when they and 19-year-old Tyrec Philips, also of Morristown, are accused of having allegedly given a 17-year-old female, also of Morristown, something to drink that made her fall in and out of consciousness. The trio then allegedly drove from a Hazel Street house to a secluded part of Monroe Street, where they allegedly had sex with her.  

Philips had been charged as an adult at the time of the incident and . During the time since, the parents and attorneys Malik and McDaniel had lobbied unsuccessfully on several occasions for them to be released the juvenile detention center to house arrest.

After Morris County Superior Court Family Division Judge Michael Paul Wright's ruling Friday, Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Samantha DeNegri filed adult charges against Malik and McDaniel, with bail set for $100,000 each, no 10 percent option, according to the article. They were transferred to the Morris County jail.