Two Hunterdon County residents have been charged with making false reports that New Jersey State Police troopers committed a sexual assault while on duty.
Randal Kelco, 35, and Lisa DeStefano, 45, both of Bloomsbury, are facing second-degree charges of making false reports to law enforcement, according to state Attorney General Matthew Platkin.
Second-degree crimes carry prison sentences of five to ten years.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, Kelco and DeStefano allegedly 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.
But an investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) Corruption Bureau and the New Jersey State Police Office of Professional Standards (OPS) uncovered evidence indicating the attack never occurred. according to the attorney general.
The investigation found three state troopers responded at about 3:59 a.m. Oct. 23, 2023 to a domestic dispute at a Brunswick Avenue residence shared by Kelco and Destefano, who were present there together.
The troopers’ bodycams 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.
The footage also captured the troopers transporting Kelco to a nearby hotel before leaving the scene without any further interaction with Kelco or DeStefano.
The following day, shortly after 1:30 a.m., Kelco and...
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