S. Jersey man charged with sexually assaulting 7-year-old girl

A 30-year-old Camden County man has been arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a 7-year-old girl and related offenses, authorities said Saturday.

James R. Ward, of East Browning Road in Bellmawr, is accused of sexually assaulting the girl in 2014 in Atlantic County. Prosecutors allege that Ward was the fiance of the victim's mother and committed the crimes when he was watching the child in their then-home in Brigantine, while the mother was not present.

He was arrested without incident Friday morning in Bellmawr after a two-year investigation and was taken to the Atlantic County Justice Facility under $350,000 full cash bail, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said in a news release.

- Julie Shaw