The Bobster
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Ex-NJ sheriff’s officer indicted for recording sexual assaults of women
Former New Jersey sheriff’s officer, Joshua Padilla has been indicted on charges he videotaped himself sexually assaulting three unconscious women, authorities said.
nypost.com
Ex-NJ sheriff’s officer indicted for recording sexual assaults of women
By
Joshua Rhett Miller
September 27, 2021 3:45pm
Updated
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A former New Jersey sheriff’s officer has been indicted on charges he videotaped himself sexually assaulting three unconscious women, authorities said Monday.
Joshua Padilla, a 36-year-old ex-cop for the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office, was indicted Friday on eight counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault and other charges following his February 2019 arrest, Monmouth County prosecutors said Monday.
Padilla, who was being investigated at the time by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, was found in possession of numerous videos showing himself performing sex acts on women who were “clearly unconscious and unresponsive,” according to a statement by Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey.
Padilla, who was accused of assaulting his victims in Middlesex County and at his Eatontown home, also allegedly recorded himself having sex with a 17-year-old girl in Pennsylvania and later uploaded footage online, Linskey said.
Padilla pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contract with a minor in March, admitting in court that he sought to meet up with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old girl who was investigating him, Linskey said.
The sexual assault accusations against Padilla from 2016 and 2018 involve three adult victims, but investigators say he may have attacked others and are still seeking additional information about his activities during that span.
“These were truly unspeakable crimes against utterly helpless individuals,” Linskey said in a statement Monday. “We are encouraged by the progress made so far in shepherding this case through the criminal justice system, but troubled by the prospects of other victims being out there who have yet to come forward — and may not even have known they were victimized.”
In addition to aggravated sexual assault, Padilla was indicted Friday on charges including invasion of privacy, aggravated criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child.
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Padilla pleaded guilty to unlawful contact with a minor in March, Pennsylvania AGl Josh Shapiro announced at the time. Padilla told the undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old girl via social media and text messages that he wanted to meet her for sex and sent two photos of his genitals while asking for pictures of the purported teen, prosecutors said.
Sentencing in the case was deferred until a sexually violent predator assessment could be conducted, Shapiro said.
“Padilla’s crimes betray the hard work of the men and women in law enforcement and undermine the trust placed in him by his community,” Shapiro said at the time. “Enforcing the law does not put you above the law.”
Padilla was also charged in federal court with producing and distributing child pornography for recording the sexual encounter with the 17-year-old girl in Pennsylvania in spring 2018 after meeting her on adultfriendfinder.com. Those charges were still pending, Shapiro said in March.
Padilla, then 33, was arrested in 2019. He was immediately suspended without pay from his $56,690-a-year job, NJ.com reported.
Padilla, who remains held in federal prison in Pennsylvania, is no longer employed by the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office, Linksey said. If convicted on all charges filed in Monmouth Superior Court, he faces more than 160 years in prison and will have to register as a sex offender.
Anyone with additional information about Padilla should contact Detective Brian Hammarstorm at the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 431-7160, Linskey said.