Criminal charges have been filed against two residents of Bloomsbury, New Jersey, after they allegedly made false claims that members of the New Jersey State Police committed a sexual assault while on duty. Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) announced that Randal Kelco, 35, and Lisa DeStefano, 45, face second-degree charges for making false reports to law enforcement.
Authorities state that Kelco and DeStefano told hospital staff and officers from two different law enforcement agencies that Kelco had been sexually assaulted by several troopers. However, an investigation conducted by the OPIA Corruption Bureau and the NJSP Office of Professional Standards (OPS) found evidence contradicting their account.
“In this case, OPIA followed the evidence, including the body-worn camera video of the officers, which allegedly shows this was a malicious, self-serving hoax by the defendants,” said Attorney General Platkin.
Eric L. Gibson, Executive Director of OPIA, added: “This case clearly demonstrates how important body-worn camera video evidence can be to understanding events and fact-checking witness statements. In this instance, those recordings provided exculpatory evidence showing these troopers were facing false, inflammatory allegations of criminal conduct.”
The investigation found that three state troopers responded to a domestic dispute at the couple’s residence in Bloomsbury on October 23, 2023. The officers’ body-worn cameras recorded their interactions with Kelco and DeStefano for about 40 minutes before leaving the home and transporting Kelco to a nearby hotel.
The following day at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, Kelco and DeStefano reported to medical staff that Kelco had been sexually assaulted by the responding troopers. They repeated these allegations to New Brunswick police officers who arrived at the hospital. The couple later filed a complaint with OPS against the troopers and maintained their claims during a November interview with an OPS detective.
Investigators reviewed both body-worn camera footage from the troopers as well as video from Kelco’s cellphone but found no evidence supporting their allegations. The recordings reportedly contradicted their accounts entirely.
Second-degree charges in New Jersey carry potential penalties of five to ten years in prison and fines up to $150,000.
Deputy Attorney General Michael Angermeier is prosecuting this case for OPIA under supervision from Bureau Deputy Chief Laura Croce, Bureau Director Jeffrey J. Manis, and OPIA Executive Director Gibson.
Authorities remind that criminal charges are accusations only; both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Defense counsel has not yet been identified.
