Bayville Man Charged With Aggravated Sexual Assault Of Girl, 12

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, NJ - A Bayville man has been charged with the aggravated sexual assault of a 12-year-old Stafford Township girl, according to a spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Joseph Barden, 19, was arrested on Jan. 20 in Stafford, where he was also charged with sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, spokesman Al Della Fave said.

Patch originally reported that the girl was four years old, based on information from the Ocean County Corrections Department, which identified the victim was four. But the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office later issued a release that says the victim was 12.

The arrest stems from an investigation that began on Jan. 19, when Stafford police received a report that the victim was sexually assaulted after she began corresponding with Barden on Facebook. Barden communicated with the victim for several weeks by cell phone and exchanging photographs, Della Fave said.

Barden went to the victim's home and climbed into her bedroom window, where the assault took place on Jan. 19, he said.

The Prosecutor's Office's high tech crime unit, Detective Raymond Coles and Ocean County Sheriff's CSI Detective Stephen Capoano also assisted in the investigation. Barden is being held in the Ocean County Jail pending his detention hearing.

Barden was a student at Central Regional High School, but left the district in October, Business Administrator Kevin O'Shea said.
Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides also confirmed that Barden had left the district last year. Barden left on his own and may have gone for his GED through Ocean County College, he said.

Photo: Ocean County Corrections Department