New Jersey

Ex-Middlesex Co. Sheriff's Officer Taped Sexual Assaults of Unconscious Women: MCPO

Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office

What to Know

  • A former Middlesex County Sheriff's officer is facing a litany of charges after a Monmouth County grand jury returned a 20-count indictment charging him with videotaping violent sexual assaults of multiple unconscious women over the span of three years, prosecutors announced Monday.
  • Joshua Padilla, 36 and a resident of Berkeley Place in Eatontown, was indicted Friday and is now charged with eight counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, seven counts of third-degree invasion of privacy, four counts of third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact, and one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said.
  • The charges stem from an investigation kicked off after an investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

A former Middlesex County Sheriff's officer is facing a litany of charges after a Monmouth County grand jury returned a 20-count indictment charging him with videotaping violent sexual assaults of multiple unconscious women over the span of three years, prosecutors announced Monday.

Joshua Padilla, 36 and a resident of Berkeley Place in Eatontown, was indicted Friday and is now charged with eight counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, seven counts of third-degree invasion of privacy, four counts of third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact, and one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said.

If convicted on the charges filed in Monmouth County Superior Court, Padilla would face up to 20 years in state prison on each count of aggravated sexual assault, up to five years on each count of aggravated criminal sexual contact, up to five years for each count of invasion of privacy, and up to 10 years for endangering the welfare of a child. Additionally, he would be subject to parole supervision for life and would be required to register as a sex offender.

Attorney information for Padilla was not immediately known.

The charges stem from an investigation kicked off after an investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. Padilla was subsequently arrested in February 2019 by members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Victims Bureau.

According to prosecutors, the probe found that Padilla was in possession of numerous videos of himself performing sexual acts upon women who were unconscious and unresponsive. Padilla was also allegedly found to be in possession of child sexual abuse materials.

Prosecutors say that many of these crimes took place at this home in Eatontown, with others occurring in Middlesex County.

The Monmouth County sexual assault charges that Padilla faces relate to three different adult victims and crimes taking place from 2016 into 2018.

However, authorities continue investigating Padilla's activities. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Brian Hammarstrom of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-431-7160, Ext. 6413. Additionally, anyone who wants to make an anonymous report related to this case can also call the Monmouth County Crime Stoppers’ confidential tip line at 1-800-671-4400.

“These were truly unspeakable crimes against utterly helpless victims,” Linskey said. “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 who may not even have known they were victimized. We urge anyone with any information about the activities of this defendant to step forward and tell us what they know.”

So far, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, the probe into Padilla has resulted in criminal charges in three different jurisdictions, including in July 2019, when the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced that it was indicting him for producing, distributing, and being in possession of child sexual abuse materials after he allegedly recorded himself engaging in unlawful sexual contact with a 17-year-old girl in Pennsylvania and later uploaded the video online.

Subsequently, this past March, Padilla pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact with a minor in relation to the Pennsylvania case. During a related investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, Padilla allegedly admitted to attempting to meet with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old girl and digitally sharing with her sexually graphic images of himself.

Padilla is currently incarcerated in a Pennsylvania federal prison. He is no longer employed by the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office.

Copyright NBC New York
Contact Us