The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Crisfield man today, identified as Joseph Salvatore Ciociola, and charged him as a fugitive from the State of Pennsylvania following a nine (9) month investigation into sex crimes by the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office in cooperation with the Radnor Township Police Department in Wayne, Pennsylvania.
The arrest also included several Maryland criminal charges and the execution of a search and seizure warrant in Crisfield, Maryland.
The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation into this incident on July 14, 2021, when the victim reported that she had been sexually abused by her stepfather, Joseph Salvatore Ciociola, repeatedly over several years.
The victim reported that the sexual assaults by her stepfather began as early as 1998 when she was six (6) years old and the assaults progressed in frequency and severity to the point of rape with certain criminal acts such as assault and sex offenses continuing until recent days.
Both the accused and the victim resided in the same household together located on Morris Road in Wayne, Pennsylvania, where most of this activity occurred.
The victim was moved to Broadway Avenue in Crisfield, Maryland, on April 1, 2021, and lived with the accused who reportedly kept her in a very controlled, fearful, and abusive environment. The victim remained at the Crisfield, Maryland address until police and family intervention, created by this complaint, caused the victim to relocate back to Pennsylvania.
The victim was directed to the Radnor Township Police Department, Wayne, Pennsylvania, where investigators began an investigation into the reported sex crimes that occurred within their jurisdiction. A joint criminal investigation between the two departments continued.
On April 7, 2022, at approximately 7:00 AM, the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office and investigators with the Radnor Township Police Department responded to Broadway Avenue in Crisfield, Maryland with a Pennsylvania Arrest Warrant, formally charging Joseph Salvatore Ciociola with over 120 counts of crimes including assault, sex assault, child abuse, and rape.
The accused was placed under arrest for the following crimes in the State of Maryland:
• Violation of a protective order (obtained by this victim)
• Possession of a firearm in violation of a protective order
• Assault 2nd degree
• Sex offense 3rd degree
• Sex offense 4th degree
• Perverted Practice
The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office also executed a Search and Seizure Warrant at the residence on Broadway Avenue in Crisfield, Maryland, where numerous computers and related electronic devices suspected of containing electronic evidence were seized.
Joseph Salvatore Ciociola was incarcerated in the Somerset County Detention Center by the District Court Commissioner in lieu of NO BOND for the Maryland Charges and the Fugitive Warrant.
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