TRENTON, N.J. – Two individuals from Hunterdon County have been charged after allegedly fabricating claims that New Jersey State Police troopers sexually assaulted one of them during an on-duty call, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Tuesday.
According to the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA), Randal Kelco, 35, and Lisa DeStefano, 45, both of Bloomsbury, were each charged by complaint with making false reports to law enforcement, a second-degree offense.
Authorities said the pair made the accusations after troopers responded to a domestic dispute at their residence on October 23, 2023. Kelco later claimed he was assaulted by multiple troopers, but investigators determined that the allegations were false.
Investigation found no evidence of misconduct
“The 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,” Attorney General Platkin said.
Eric L. Gibson, Executive Director of OPIA, added that body-worn cameras were critical in disproving the claims. “In this instance, those recordings provided exculpatory evidence showing these troopers were facing false, inflammatory allegations of criminal conduct,” Gibson said.
Investigators said three troopers arrived at the couple’s home around 3:59 a.m. and remained for about 40 minutes. The footage showed them resolving the dispute, transporting Kelco to a nearby hotel, and leaving without further incident.
False claims made at hospital and to police
The next day, Kelco and DeStefano went to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where they told staff and responding New Brunswick police officers that Kelco had been sexually assaulted by the troopers.
They later repeated their story to the NJSP Office of Professional Standards (OPS) and during a November 6 interview with a state police detective. Investigators found that neither body camera footage nor Kelco’s own cellphone recordings supported their allegations.
Potential penalties and prosecution
Second-degree offenses in New Jersey carry penalties of five to ten years in state prison and fines up to $150,000.
The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Michael Angermeier of the OPIA Corruption Bureau under the supervision of Deputy Chief Laura Croce, Director Jeffrey J. Manis, and Executive Director Eric L. Gibson.
Officials emphasized that the charges are accusations, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.