Sexual assault charges against a North Plainfield police officer were dropped Wednesday after his accuser, a young woman who was reportedly homeless and sought help from him, refused to testify.

Just before jury selection in the trial of Mikeedwar Jean-Baptiste, 31, Union County Assistant Prosecutor Scott Peterson told Judge Lisa Miralles Walsh that the woman did not wish to relive the assault and wouldn’t be taking the stand, according to an audio recordings of the hearing.

Peterson described the woman as being extremely apprehensive and uncooperative, and said she wanted to put everything behind her. He sought to dismiss the charges in consideration of her rights as a victim, he told the judge.

The woman told police in 2017 that Jean-Baptiste took her to a hotel room and raped her after she met him at the North Plainfield Police Department while seeking help for her and her son. But his attorney, Patrick Toscano, said that what happened between the pair in the Kenilworth hotel March 2, 2017 was “nothing other than a sexual encounter between two consenting adults.”

North Plainfield Officer Mikeedwar Jean-BaptisteProvided by Toscano Law Firm

Now, Toscano is demanding that Jean-Baptiste be returned to active duty as a North Plainfield cop and that the police department pay his legal fees — at $625 an hour — and his backpay, as he has been suspended without pay since he was charged.

“What Officer John-Baptiste was forced to endure over the last two calendar years was purely another unashamed example of a ubiquitous and omnipresent public mindset to wrongfully accuse law enforcement officers of a crime because they wear a badge,” said Toscano, who is well-known for his work representing law enforcement officers.

According to the probable cause statement charging Jean-Baptiste in 2017, the woman told police she asked for help at the North Plainfield Police Department because she and her child were homeless. Jean-Baptiste drove her to a social services agency but she later went back to the station seeking help again and he told her he would get them a hotel room, the woman told police.

She said he took them to a Kenilworth motel, then returned with clothing, milk for her child and alcohol that the pair drank together. She told police he raped her while she repeatedly said “no” and tried to get away, the probable cause statement says.

Toscano said this is a lie and called for the prosecutor’s office to charge her with filing a false police report. The case was “riddled” with issues, including that the person the woman first reported the assault to, who was was going to testify for the state, was a powerful gang member, Toscano claimed.

Jean-Baptiste was suspended without pay since his arrest July 24, 2017 until the charges were dismissed. He is now on paid leave and will be pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation, according to borough attorney Eric M. Bernstein.

He was earning a salary of $73,474, state records show.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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