Lacey Man Pleads Guilty to Sexual Assault of 12-Year-Old Boy

TOMS RIVER, NJ - A Lacey Township man has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy and to the attempted sexual assault of another male juvenile, a spokesman for Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said.

Philip M. Caputo, 62, of Forked River, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree sexual assault and one count of second-degree attempted sexual assault on two male juveniles under 13 before Superior Court Judge Therese A. Cunningham. The assaults date back to 1997 and 1998, spokesman Al Della Fave said.

The investigation began on Dec. 21, 2015, when the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit was contacted by the first victim, who alleged that Caputo sexually assaulted him in 1998 at the age of 12 on multiple occasions in Lacey Township and in Florida, Della Fave said.

A second male victim also alleged that Caputo tried to sexually assault him from the age of 11 to 17. Caputo knew each victim at the time of the offenses, Della Fave said.

Caputo was arrested on April 1 by detectives at his 402 Musket Road home. Superior Court Judge James M. Blaney set his bail at $200,000 cash and ordered that Caputo have no contact with the victims. He remains free on bail pending his sentencing that will be set after an evaluation at the Avenel Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Woodbridge, which houses roughly 700 sexual offenders.

The Prosecutor’s Office is encouraging any other victims to contact Det. Alexander Bromley of the Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit at 732-929-2027.

Photo: Courtesy of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office