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Case #852 Rating: 3.0 out of 5
Dog sexually assaulted
South Brunswick, NJ (US)Incident Date: Monday, Nov 11, 2002
County: Middlesex
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Joseph Cocho
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
Joseph Cocho, 47, of Maple Avenue was being held at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center in lieu of $25,000 bail on charges of torturing a dog and owning a dagger for an unlawful purpose. He told police he had a conventional bomb enhanced by radioactive materials in the mobile home where he lived, said Detective James Ryan of the South Brunswick Police Department.
Mr. Cocho was charged with torturing an animal and illegal possession of a weapon after a woman he sublet a trailer from told police she saw him having sex with her dog, police said. Mr. Cocho rented space inside the woman's trailer. Police found dog hair matching the dog's coat on Mr. Cocho's jeans, police said.
Mr. Cocho's bail was originally set at $1,000 but a Superior Court Judge raised it to $25,000, according to the inmate information department of the county corrections center.
The Middlesex County ASPCA filed two criminal and two civil animal cruelty charges against Mr. Cocho, Detective Ryan said.
Mr. Cocho faces up to two years in jail and up to $2,000 in fines, Detective Ryan said. Police also found a 12-inch dagger and several smaller knives in Mr. Cocho's room, according to report.
Mr. Cocho also allegedly shouted anti-Italian epithets at an officer and made several other assertions while being arrested, according to the report. Mr. Cocho told police he believed people who died in a recent earthquake in Italy had donated blood to inhabitants of Central America through organ transplants, according to the report.
An investigative team including the South Brunswick Police, the New Jersey State Police bomb squad, and bomb sniffing dogs acted on a judge's warrant and searched the home and the park's common areas Monday, Detective Ryan said.
Mr. Cocho was renting space In the trailer against park regulations that prohibit subletting and require examination of those who wish to live in the development. "Basically, anyone who comes into the mobile home park, we do a criminal background check and a credit check," said Arthur Roedel, who owns the park. "This is the kind of thing that happens when people are careless," Mr. Roedel said.
After investigating the incident, police arrested Cocho at the home, and charged him with torture/torment of animals and unlawful possession of a weapon - a 12-inch dagger police discovered in his room.
The weapons charge was later dismissed because police could not determine that Cocho had the dagger for an unlawful purpose. The other charges were downgraded to a disorderly persons offense.
Case Updates| Judge Dowgin imposed a 60-day jail term, $1,500 in fines, and a year of supervised probation on Cocho. Cocho, standing pleaded guilty to one count of criminal torture of an animal and two civil counts of animal torture and cruelty. | | Update posted on Feb 24, 2003 - 9:51PM |
References« NJ State Animal Cruelty Map
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