AG: Bodycam Videos Show N.J. State Police Troopers Falsely Accused of Sexual Assault
What to know
• A couple was charged with second-degree false reporting after officials said their claims that New Jersey State Police troopers sexually assaulted one of them were disproven by body camera footage.
• Investigators said the recordings contradicted detailed allegations the pair made to hospital staff, local police and the Office of Professional Standards following an October 2023 domestic dispute call.
• The case highlights how body-camera evidence can verify officer actions as the couple also pursues a separate federal lawsuit alleging civil rights violations tied to the same incident.
A couple has been charged with falsely claiming New Jersey State Troopers committed sexual assault while investigating a domestic dispute in their Hunterdon County home two years ago.
Randal Kelco, 35, and Lisa DeStefano, 45, both of Bloomsbury, were each charged with second-degree false reporting to law enforcement, according to Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin.
Kelco and DeStefano “told staff members at a hospital as well as officers from two separate law enforcement agencies that Kelco had been sexually assaulted by multiple troopers,” Platkin said in a statement Tuesday.
Troopers responded about 4 a.m. on Oct. 23, 2023, to a domestic dispute between Kelco and DeStefano at the Brunswick Avenue residence they shared, according to Platkin.
“The troopers’ body-worn cameras captured their interactions with Kelco and DeStefano while they investigated the incident for roughly 40 minutes, leaving the home at about 4:36 a.m.,” Platkin said.
“The footage also captured the troopers transporting Kelco to a nearby hotel before leaving the scene without any further interaction with either (Kelco or DeStefano),” Platkin said.
Shortly after 1:30 a.m. the following day, Kelco and DeStefano checked in at the Emergency Department of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.
“They both reported to the medical staff that Kelco had been sexually assaulted by the responding troopers the day before,” Platkin said.
New Brunswick police officers went to the hospital and spoke with the pair, who repeated their account of the alleged assault and provided a detailed description of the alleged crime, according to Platkin.
On Nov. 6, 2023, the couple filed a complaint against the troopers with the state’s Office of Professional Standards, telling an agency detective that Kelco was sexually assaulted by the troopers.
Platkin said an investigation revealed that neither the body-worn camera video nor video from Kelco’s cellphone showed evidence of a sexual assault or misconduct.
“In fact, the recordings directly contradict the accounts of Kelco and DeStefano,” Platkin said.
“In this case, (the Office of Professional Standards) followed the evidence, including the body-worn camera video of the officers, which shows this was a malicious, self-serving hoax by the defendants,” Platkin said.
Eric L. Gibson, executive director of the Office of Professional Standards, said the recordings provided evidence that the troopers were “facing false, inflammatory allegations of criminal conduct.”
“This case clearly demonstrates how important body-worn camera video evidence can be to understanding events and fact-checking witness statements,” Gibson said.
On March 19, an attorney filed a separate federal lawsuit against New Jersey State Police, claiming the troopers injected Kelco in the buttocks with an unknown drug, “rendering him defenseless.”
The lawsuit claimed the troopers took turns groping Kelco, identified as “Ron Doe” in the complaint, before sexually assaulting him in his home.
The troopers were then accused of handcuffing Kelco, leading him outside and sexually assaulting him again.
The suit alleged the troopers drove a handcuffed Kelco to a hotel in Philipsburg, where they injected him again with the unknown drug and left him there.
According to the complaint, an attending doctor at the New Brunswick hospital confirmed a sexual assault had occurred based on testing from a certified sexual assault examiner.
Medical records filed as court exhibits state the victim suffered an abrasion to his head, “adult sexual abuse,” and “assault by other bodily force.”
The lawsuit alleged violations of Kelco’s civil rights, conspiracy and false imprisonment.
The suit also named soon-to-be-retired state police Col. Patrick J. Callahan as a defendant, claiming negligent hiring, training and supervision.
The attorney who filed the lawsuit was not immediately available to comment on the criminal charges.
A criminal defense attorney for the couple was not listed in court records on Tuesday.
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