When there's no such thing as consent (statutory rape)

Jennifer Santangelo of Lyndhurst was walking home from school one day, wearing her blue and white uniform, when a 31-year-old man said hello and began chatting with her. He was nice, she said. He gave her a box of pens and offered to let her into his nightclub for free, she said, if she handed out fliers for him. Santangelo, then an eighth-grader at Sacred Heart School, had never been in a nightclub before. So she gave out some fliers in the coming days, threw out the rest and showed up at the club. The man let her in, she said.

The two exchanged phone numbers, began meeting frequently and soon were in a relationship that Santangelo said ended in 2004, a few months after her 18th birthday. She went to the police several months later. Their secret love affair involved sex about twice a week, Santangelo told detectives in a sworn statement. She said the relationship was punctuated by five pregnancies -- four abortions, one miscarriage -- and, later on, countless fights that led to a hostile breakup.

Joseph Picolli, 38, of Rutherford was arrested and later indicted on charges of having a sexual relationship with an underage girl. The indictment also charges him with having sex with a friend of Santangelo's when she, too, was 13. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted at a trial that is scheduled to begin April 17. Santangelo, now 20, is on probation for drug possession, a habit she blames on her troubled adolescence. Her relationship with her family is strained, if not shattered. Although she believes she once loved Picolli, she said she feels used and betrayed.

"I wish I'd never met him," she said. "He took me from an innocent 13-year-old into what I am today. I was still playing with dolls at 13. He totally had me brainwashed. I was in his web and I couldn't get out." The Record ordinarily withholds the identities of alleged sex crime victims. In this case, however, Santangelo agreed to an on-the-record interview. "What I had to go through, I don't want that to happen to another girl," she said.

The crime Picolli stands accused of is more commonly known as statutory rape -- a "consensual" relationship between an adult and a child under the age of consent. More than a third of Bergen County's 300 sex-crimes cases each year involve statutory rape, said Assistant Prosecutor Patricia Baglivi, chief of the sex-crimes unit. In Passaic County, about 15 percent of the 200 sex crimes prosecuted are statutory-rape cases, said Chief Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Del Russo, who heads the sex-crimes unit there. In Morris County, 47 of 168 sex-crime cases from July through December 2005 involved charges of statutory rape, said Michelle DiNapoli, a spokeswoman for the county Prosecutor's Office.

Prosecutors believe such numbers represent only a fraction of cases in which a minor is involved in a sexual relationship with an adult. Although many studies show that teens are having sex at a younger age than before -- often with older men -- authorities say such cases are rarely reported because the relationships usually don't involve force or coercion. "They come to our attention only when someone is bragging about their relationship or the parents find out about it, or a hospital calls us when a teenager is delivering a baby," Baglivi said. "Otherwise, these kids are not coming forward on their own." Most states, including New Jersey, allow 13- to 16-year-olds to have sex with partners less than four years older. Perhaps in an attempt not to interfere with high-school dating, the law allows a 17-year-old boy, for instance, to have sex with a 13½-year-old girl -- in effect, condoning the younger teen's exposure to sex. However, the same activity, if conducted a day after the male's 18th birthday, becomes a second-degree crime that carries a prison term of up to 10 years, lifelong parole under Megan's Law and civil liability for personal injury.

Such a distinction is not meant to protect teens from sex -- but, rather, from exploitative sexual relationships with older partners, legal scholars say. What the law does, they say, is enforce societal norms condemning sexual relations where the age disparity is, as one put it, "just not right." "It's the law's way of saying, 'Pick someone your size,' " said Michelle Oberman, a law professor at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, Calif., who has written extensively on statutory rape laws. Prosecutors sometimes refrain from aggressive enforcement, saying the law could subject undeserving defendants -- a 20-year-old college sophomore, for instance, who went to bed with a 15-year-old girl thinking she was a year older -- to harsh punishment. "I don't think the law was intended for such defendants," Baglivi said. Prosecutors prefer to resolve such cases through plea agreements, offering deals with no jail time when the age disparity is not that great and the defendant doesn't seem predatory.

"Sometimes we don't even charge in such cases," said Del Russo. "If we do charge, our plea offers are going to be benevolent." In the case of older defendants, however, the pick-someone-your-size rule kicks in. "When the defendants are in their 30s and 40s, that almost always entails a prison term," Baglivi said. Del Russo agrees. "Depending on the quality of proof, that would be dealt with harshly," he said. "I think there is a consensus that with older partners, there is clearly a mismatch -- a social, emotional and sexual mismatch."

Statutory rape is at least as old as 1275, when common law in England outlawed sex with anyone under the age of 12. At different times in subsequent centuries, the age of consent in America fluctuated from 10 to 21. When the New Jersey criminal code was drafted in the late 1970s, some proposed 13 as the age of consent. Public sentiment, however, was resistant. "The people ... were shocked by the fact that the criminal code allowed women to consent to sexual activity at the age of 13," reads a note in the state criminal code explaining the law's history. A balance was then struck, setting the bar at 16 but also allowing 13- to 16-year-olds to be sexually involved with a partner less than four years older. More than half of the states today have settled on 16 as the age of consent.

"Virtually every community on the planet has the notion that a certain portion of the population must be off limits to sexual activity, under the premise that they are not capable of making decisions about sexual conduct," Oberman said. Younger partners can be extremely traumatized, some experts say. "Any time you have this kind of relationship, you are always going to find damage to victims," said William Plantier, director of the state Department of Corrections' division of operations.

"It could be fear of men, lack of trust for adults or inability to enjoy normal sexual relationships," said Plantier, who for 10 years administered the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center, the state's prison for sex offenders, in the Avenel section of Woodbridge. Paul Robinson, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a leading criminal law scholar, agreed.

"A 13-year-old may well believe the older partner is in love with her, not knowing he is only interested in sex," he said. "When she realizes afterward that she had been used and manipulated, that discovery itself can be very damaging."

Matthew Koso of Nebraska was 21 when he began a relationship with a 13-year-old girl. She gave birth to a baby girl last year, a few months after the couple was married in Kansas. In a case that drew national attention, Koso was charged with aggravated sexual assault and pleaded guilty late last year. At his sentencing last month, Koso's wife implored the judge to set her husband free. "I don't understand what this [punishment] is supposed to do," said Crystal Koso, now 15. The judge sentenced him to 18 to 30 months in prison.

"This is a crime only because the law presumes that a 13-year-old cannot consent to sexual relations. Isn't that a legal contradiction here?" attorney George Orthmann of Ridgewood wrote in a letter to the editor after the September 2002 sentencing. "On other questions of great human consequence -- custody, for example -- the wishes of 13-year-olds are given great weight." Statutory rape laws were meant centuries ago to protect the virginity of girls to ensure their chances of marrying decent husbands. After several evolutions, the same laws are now cited, in part, as a weapon to combat teen pregnancy and reduce the number of unwed young mothers surviving on welfare. A 1981 U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding California's statutory rape laws noted that "the prevention of illegitimate pregnancy is at least one of the purposes of the statute."

More recently, a major welfare reform law adopted by Congress in 1996 declared, "States and local jurisdictions should aggressively enforce statutory rape laws." The law also mandates that the U.S. Justice Department study "the linkage between statutory rape and teenage pregnancy, particularly by predatory older men committing repeat offenses." In New Jersey, there were nearly 2,400 births to girls 17 or younger in 2003, according to the state Department of Health. One national study shows that 20 percent of all teenage mothers had a partner six or more years older. Several experts doubt that statutory rape laws meet their stated goals. "These laws have little to do with the problem of teen pregnancy," said Oberman, of Santa Clara University. "I think the laws work best simply as protectors of vulnerable populations."

'My life is on hold' Picolli, who now works as a barber, is married with a child. He and his attorney, John Bruno, would not discuss the case. "Regardless of the outcome, there will be no winners," the lawyer said. "This is a very sad case for both sides. My client's reputation in the community is already ruined." However, at a hearing in Superior Court in Hackensack last week, Bruno told a judge that Santangelo had previously accused others of sexual assault, only to later recant her stories. Prosecutors only recently made that information available, he said. "This critical evidence was hidden from the grand jury [that indicted Picolli]," Bruno said. "This indictment should be dismissed."

The lawyer later said that Santangelo "carries with her more baggage than most victims I have come across in almost 30 years of practice." Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Maria Rockfol countered that victims of sexual assault often recant statements, usually to protect a boyfriend from criminal charges. Rockfol also declined to be interviewed for this story. Santangelo said Picolli, then a local standup comedian, was funny and flatteringly attentive when she met him. He made her feel special, she said, giving her cellphones and buying her gifts, taking her to Giants Stadium and letting her drive his truck in the parking lot. He also attended her eighth-grade graduation and confirmation, she said.

"I was intrigued by that," she said. "He was, like, this older man to me who came off as caring. ... He would finish my sentences for me. He had a way of getting into my mind and knowing every little thing about me." Once an honor student, Santangelo began flunking courses and getting suspended from school for bad behavior. "I just rebelled against everything and everyone," she said. Her mother eventually sent her to the Chancellor Academy in the Pompton Plains section of Pequannock, a school for children with learning disabilities. Santangelo has moved back in with her mother. She stays home most of the time, she said, and is trying to repair their relationship. Sometimes she helps out at her mother's delicatessen.

"There are so many guys out there going after young, vulnerable girls," Santangelo said. "What I have to say to 13-year-olds is: Stay away from older men who try to solicit you, men who are only after one thing. What else can they offer you? What else could a 13-year-old and a 30-year-old possibly have in common?" Santangelo said she has remained drug-free for over six months. She attends psychological counseling once a month. "My life is on hold until this is over," she said. After that, she said, she's going away to college. "My life in New Jersey is nothing but bad things," Santangelo said. "My friends are disgusted with my experience. They think it's horrible. "I just want to go someplace where no one knows me and start afresh. Somewhere far."

At a loss for words...

Usually I'm into a story like this.. but this one was strange all around --- it had this "heavy victim mentality" feel and things didn't add up. Passing out flyers, going to a club... He gave her a box of pens...

No mention of the parents...

Then she sulks and puts her life on hold. My advice, go get a college degree and hold your head high. Will she get a college degree, a Law degree, to do some good or will she be depressed for the next 70 years... afterall she will live upwards of 90 years...

I'm done with this story... weird.

But, yes, the law are good ones, they change the ethos of a society.

Where were her parents? Where was her school? What were they teaching at Sacred Heart Academy that made her think that 4 abortions and a miscarriage (all without the benefit of marriage) was permissable? You'd think that she'd have wised up after the first one.

No father is mentioned in this story. Are her parents divorced? Her mother abandoned? I'm sure that her mother thought that the school was taking care of teaching her daughter morals, but that is just not good enough. When her grades fell because of her promiscuous and turbulent lifestyle, her mother put her at an academy for learning disabled children. Who suggested that for a former honor student?

As an armchair psychologist, it sounds like this child was craving the attention of a man (absent father?).

This is a very, very sad story, and the guy who did this ought to go to jail for a very long time.

This 30+ year old is very much guilty of raping this child and then mentally controlling her until she aged and seemingly obtained a clue as to what was going on. Joe Picolli at 30+ years old is vastly mentally supperior to this child and when she was a child, didn’t have a chance. He raped her, controlled her and impregnated her over several years - they should lock him up in general pop so he can see what rape is. I’m sorry, I place very little blame on this child as most people know, children are always open to new things and this loser took total advantage by enticing her and continually raping her phisically and mentally for several years. This country needs to start exterminating these losers.

Man acquitted of statutory rape
Thursday, October 1, 2009
LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY OCTOBER 1, 2009, 7:10 AM
BY KIBRET MARKOS
THE RECORD
STAFF WRITER
3 Comments
A Rutherford man was acquitted Wednesday of charges that he had sex with an underage girl, bringing an end to a troubled case that lingered for more than five years through several pitfalls.

Joseph Picolli broke into tears as a jury cleared him of charges that he had a sexual relationship with a Lyndhurst girl from 1998 to 2001, which began when she was 13.

“A great burden has been lifted off the Picolli family,” defense lawyer John Bruno declared. “Like I said before, there are no winners in this case, because so much has been lost, financially, emotionally and in terms of reputation.”

Picolli was arrested and charged in 2004, after the girl told investigators she met him when she was 13 – Picolli was 31 at the time – and had an affair with him for years. She also told investigators that Picolli got her pregnant several times.

FAST FACTS
The age of consent in New Jersey is 16. Anyone under that age is deemed too young under state law to consent to having sex with an adult.
Having intercourse with anyone between the ages of 13 and 16 is considered sexual assault (commonly known as statutory rape) if the adult is more than four years older than the minor. It carries up to 10 years in prison.
Mistaking the age of the victim — such as the often-invoked “I thought she was 18” — is not a legal defense.
Source: New Jersey Criminal Code

Picolli denied the charges and challenged the girl’s credibility, saying she had changed her story several times.

Picolli was indicted in 2005 on charges of sexual assault on an underage girl — more commonly known as statutory rape. The charges carry up to 10 years in prison and come with sex-offender registration requirements under Megan’s Law.

The indictment, however, was dismissed two years later, after it was revealed that Bergen County prosecutors failed to present evidence that could have helped Picolli.

Prosecutors presented the case to another grand jury and obtained a second indictment. When Picolli went to trial in January, however, a prosecutor’s error led to a mistrial on the first day.

The eight women and four men on his second trial jury deliberated for less than three hours before they returned Wednesday with a not-guilty verdict on two counts of sexual assault and one count of child endangerment.

“We are disappointed with the verdict,” Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said. “We believe that he did the offense as charged. But the verdict is like all of them that come down in the justice system. We have to accept them.”

Picolli, now a married father of two, said he turned down several plea offers, including one that came with no jail time.

“I wasn’t taking any plea, because the name has to be cleared,” he said Wednesday. “I am glad it turned out this way.”

Judge dismisses final charges against Rutherford man charged in sex assault
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
BY KIBRET MARKOS
THE RECORD
STAFF WRITER
0 Comments
A judge has dismissed the final charges in the long and troubled case against a Rutherford man who was charged with sexually assaulting two underage girls.

Bergen County prosecutors said the latest setback in the case against Joseph Picolli came when one of the alleged victims declined to cooperate with authorities.

“I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off of my shoulders,” Picolli, a married father of two, said Wednesday in a written statement. “I look forward to moving on with my life without the dark cloud that has been hanging over my head for over five years.”

Picolli, 42, was charged in 2004 after a Lyndhurst girl told investigators that Picolli met her when she was 13 and he was 31, and had an affair with her for years, authorities said.

Another underage girl from Lyndhurst alleged that Picolli had sex with her in 1998 when she was 13.

Picolli, who denied both allegations, was indicted in 2005 on statutory-rape charges. The indictment was thrown out two years later after a judge found that prosecutors failed to present evidence that could have been favorable to Picolli.

The case was presented for the second time to another grand jury, which indicted Picolli on the same charges.

Picolli went on trial in Superior Court in Hackensack in January 2009, but a judge declared a mistrial on the first day after a prosecutor mistakenly introduced evidence that should not have been revealed to a jury.

Nine months later, another jury acquitted Picolli of charges that he had sex with one of the alleged victims.

Prosecutors said at the time that they would pursue the case of the second alleged victim. Last week, however, they filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, saying the alleged victim has decided not to cooperate.

“Right now, without a victim coming forward and cooperating with authorities, we cannot prove our case in court,” Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said.

Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian dismissed the indictment in a one-page order signed on Monday.

“My client and I are obviously relieved that this matter has finally been concluded,” Picolli’s attorney, John Bruno, said Wednesday.

“After dozens of court appearances, conferences, investigations, motions, indictments, new indictments, a mistrial, an acquittal and finally a court order dismissing the final charges, it all came down to ‘he said, she said’,” Bruno said.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.