Category: Spotswood

Drowning Death Of 1-Year-Old Under Investigation In Spotswood

August 9, 2023

SPOTSWOOD, NJ (MIDDLESEX)–Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Chief Phillip Corbisiero of the Spotswood Police Department announced today that they are investigating a drowning of a one-year-old male.      

Today, August 9, 2023, at approximately 11:22 A.M., Spotswood Police Department received a 911 call reporting that a child was found in the pool and wasn’t breathing. Upon their arrival authorities performed CPR on the one-year-old and transported him to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased.      

Anyone with information is asked to contact Lieutenant Edward Shapley of the Spotswood Police Department at 732-251-2121 or Detective Javier Morillo of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732 745-8843.


Former Middle School Teacher and Wrestling Coach Pled Guilty

April 27, 2023

Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Chief Daniel Plumacker of the Sayreville Police Department announced today that John Denuto, 46, of Spotswood pled guilty to Endangering the Welfare of a Child and other offenses on Friday, April 14, 2023.

Denuto, a former special education teacher at the Sayreville Middle School and former wrestling coach at numerous other schools and organizations who exploited his position as both a teacher and a wrestling coach to meet and abuse his victims was initially arrested on February 15, 2020. An investigation by the Sayreville Police Department and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office determined Denuto had criminal sexual contact with a juvenile and he possessed child sexual exploitive materials that he had created by filming and photographing the previous mentioned juvenile. Further investigation revealed Denuto was in possession of additional sexual exploitive material of unidentified individuals.

On April 22, 2021, Denuto was indicted on one count of first-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, one count of second-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, three counts of third-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, eight counts of third-degree Invasion of Privacy, six counts of third-degree Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact, six counts of fourth-degree Criminal Sexual Contact, two counts of third-degree Witness Tampering, and one count of third-degree Hindering His Own Apprehension.

On Friday April 14, 2023, Denuto pled before the Honorable Benjamin

S. Bucca, J.S.C., to one count of second-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, one count of third-degree Endangering and one count of fourth-degree Invasion of Privacy. He is subject to a sentence of seven years and will be on parole supervision for life and must register under Megan’s Law. Denuto is scheduled to be sentenced by the Honorable Benjamin S. Bucca, J.S.C., on September 8, 2023.

Below is a list of schools, organizations, and clubs that the investigation revealed Denuto to be associated with:

Rhino’s Wrestling Club – Morganville

CJA Wrestling Club – East Brunswick

Pennsville High School – Pennsville

Raritan High School – Hazlet Township

Saint John Vianney – Holmdel

Sayreville Middle School – Sayreville

Sayreville High School – Sayreville

Middletown North High School – Middletown Township

Monroe High School – Monroe

Peddie High School – Hightstown

South Brunswick High School – South Brunswick Saint Joseph High School – Montvale

Union County College – Cranford

Camden Catholic High School – Cherry Hill Johnson High School – Clark

St. Thomas Aquinas High School (formerly Bishop Ahr HS) – Edison

Woodbridge High School – Woodbridge

7th & 8th Woodbridge Recreation Program – Woodbridge

7th & 8th Grade Old Bridge Recreation Program – Old Bridge Piscataway High School – Piscataway

Spotswood High School – Spotswood

Freehold Boro High School – Freehold Borough

In a separate prosecution, Denuto was adjudicated delinquent on May 20, 2022, for crimes which, if committed by an adult, would constitute two counts of first-degree Aggravated Sexual Assault. Denuto was the subject of a dispositional hearing on October 21, 2022, which resulted in his commitment by the Honorable Deborah J. Venezia to the care and control of the Acting Director of the Juvenile Justice Commission for an aggregate term of four years.


Spotswood Man Charged With Aggravated Sexual Assault Of A Teenage Girl

July 20, 2021

SPOTSWOOD, NJ (MIDDLESEX)–Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Chief Michael S. Zarro, Jr. of the Spotswood Police Department announced that a borough man has been charged and arrested for the aggravated sexual assault of a teenage girl.

An investigation by Detective Sergeant Edward Schapley of the Spotswood Police Department and Detective Ivis Coghan of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office determined that, on July 13, 2021, Abdul Louis, 38, of Spotswood approached the teenage girl as she was walking near the railroad tracks off of Summerhill Road where he threatened and sexually assaulted the victim.

On July 20, 2021, Louis was arrested in Trenton by members of the Spotswood Police Department, the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force, and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Louis was charged with one count of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, two counts of second-degree sexual assault, one count of third-degree terroristic threats, one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and one count of third-degree hindering apprehension.

Louis is presently in custody pending a pre-trial detention hearing in Superior Court.

The investigation is active and continuing. Anyone with information is asked to contact D/Sgt. Schapley at (732)251-2121 or Detective Coghan of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732)745-3600.

As is the case with all criminal defendants, the charges against Louis are merely accusations and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.


Bicyclist In Fatal Accident in Monroe Identified As Army Reservist

May 5, 2020

MONROE TOWNSHIP, NJ (MIDDLESEX)–Middlesex County Acting Prosecutor Christopher L.C. Kuberiet and Chief Michael J. Biennas of the Monroe Police Department announced today that a 19-year-old bicyclist died in a fatal accident on May 2, 2020.

 The deceased bicyclist was identified as Christopher Pina, 19, of Spotswood. He was pronounced at the scene due to the injuries he sustained in the accident.

During the investigation it was determined that on May 2, 2020,  the victim left a residence at Avenue J in Monroe and proceeded to the Avenue K Park in Monroe.  Pina, who was on his bicycle latched onto the open passenger window of an acquaintance’s car. The victim lost control of his bicycle, fell to the ground, and hit the concrete which caused his fatal injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene at approximately 11:23 pm.

Anyone with information is asked to call Traffic Officer Daniel Mosakowski of the Monroe Police Department at (732) 521-0222 , or Detective Mark Morris of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-3927.

No charges have been filed, but the investigation is active and is continuing.


Obituary

Christopher John Alexander Pina was a 20 year old man who tried every moment to live his life to the fullest. When he wasn’t competing in basketball or video games there was nothing that he enjoyed more than making his friends and family laugh. He would do anything for the people that he loved, and with his enormous heart he had the capacity to love a great many people. Last June he finished his basic training and joined the Army Reserves, so that he could love and protect his country the same way he did his friends and family.

Christopher will be kept alive by all the many people whose lives he was able to touch, even in so short a time. He is survived by a loving mother and father, Debbie and Fidel, and two sisters, Amanda and Ashley, who adored him. His memory will also live on with his grandmother, Christine Lavell, and aunt and uncle, Linda and Tim Hagerty, and their four sons, David, Daniel, Dylan, and Douglas on his mom’s side. On his father’s side he will be remembered lovingly by his aunts Yolanda and Fior, his uncles, Chelo, Bienvenido, and Manuel, his cousins, Stephanie, Kevin, and Kelsey.

Due to the covid-19 pandemic, funeral services were private under the direction of Spotswood Funeral Home.

To send the family a message of condolence, please visit http://www.spotswoodfh.com.