"You're so beautiful, I just have to kiss you,'' Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Mary Stevens said Jon Cannon told his first victim
TRENTON - The Hamilton man accused of groping women while they slept in dormitories at Rider University last month fondled one woman's breasts and tried to kiss another before he was caught, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Jon Cannon of Hamilton. (Mercer County Prosecutor's Office) "You're so beautiful, I just have to kiss you,'' Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Mary Stevens said Jon Cannon told his first victim, who was asleep on a couch in a common area of a Rider dorm on Sept. 11.
Cannon, who had his bail reduced from $130,000 to $70,000 at a hearing in Mercer County Superior Court Tuesday, also accused of fondling another woman's breasts while she slept in a dorm room at Rider on Sept. 22.
Cannon, 24, appeared in court by videoconference. He is charged with two counts of burglary, criminal trespassing, a single count of criminal sexual contact. Both incidents took place in the early morning hours and while the women were sleeping in locked dormitories equipped with surveillance cameras.
Cannon had been jailed on $130,000 bail. Superior Court Judge Timothy P. Lydon, sitting in Trenton, reduced bail on the burglary charges from $50,000 to $25,000, bringing Cannon's bail to $70,000 for all charges, according to Charles Nugent, Cannon's lawyer.
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Stevens said Cannon's first victim was a woman who was guest of a Rider student. She was asleep on a couch in a dormitory common room when she awoke around 3 a.m. on Sept. 11 and felt pressure on the right side of her chest and shoulder, Stevens said.
The woman saw Cannon on the floor near the couch, Stevens said. He tried to kiss her and she punched him before he fled, Stevens said.
Surveillance cameras caught a man leaving the dorm covering his face around 3:14 a.m., Stevens said.
A second woman awoke in her bed in a third-floor dorm room around 4:45 a.m. Sept. 22 when she felt Cannon roughly touching her breasts over her nightshirt, Stevens said.
The woman yelled. A roommate woke and both chased Cannon out of the room and out of the dorm, where surveillance cameras caught Cannon leaving at 4:55 a.m., Stevens said.
In July, Hamilton police officers arrested Cannon on burglary and attempted auto theft charges after spotting him sitting in a car at 2 a.m. on Whitehorse-Mercerville Road at West McGalliard Avenue, police said. Cannon tried to duck as the patrol car approached, police said.
Hamilton police said in August they were investigating Cannon as a possible suspect in other break-ins in the White Horse area of the township. Cannon was initially held on $50,000 bail following that arrest.
Keith Brown may be reached at kbrown@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBrownTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.
