Marcus Hook man accused of making bogus Delaware County prison rape report
MEDIA COURTHOUSE >> A Marcus Hook man is charged with falsely reporting that he was raped by an inmate while he was incarcerated at the county prison last month.
“In Delaware County, we take any report of assault seriously, including in our prison,” Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland said in announcing the arrest of Stephen Michael Giampetro, 25, of the unit block of Chestnut Street.
“The fact that Mr. Giampetro fabricated this allegation because he had a personality conflict with his cellmate is both reprehensible and criminal,” Copeland said in a prepared release.
An investigation by Sgt. Kenneth Bellis and Detective Edmond Pisani was launched immediately following the report of an alleged rape inside the prison on the evening of Oct. 10, 2018. At the time, Giampetro was incarcerated for terroristic threats and harassment offenses filed by Marcus Hook police, according to online court records.
According to the district attorney’s office release, detectives met on Oct.
11 with the Giampetro at Crozer-Chester Medical Center. At that time, he said that during the evening of Oct.
10 into Oct. 11, he was anally raped by his cellmate.
“During the interview with detectives, Giampetro was acting erratic and made statements that he was going to sue everyone, that he did not believe he was speaking to police officers, and that he was hallucinating,” the release states. “Although Giampetro initially consented to a sexual assault examination by a sexual assault nurse examiner, he did not allow a full exam to be completed.”
Bellis and Pisani then spoke to the alleged offender at the prison. Though he admitted to being annoyed by his cellmates because of their incessant talking at night, he adamantly denied sexually assaulting Giampetro.
The alleged offender consented to a sexual assault kit. Subsequently, CID Detective James Reardon processed the cell block where the alleged rape occurred. That same day, Giampetro posted bail on the terroristic threats and harassment case, and was released from prison.
Prison officials told the detectives that during his incarceration, Giampetro was in protective custody and his cell was checked by a guard every 15 minutes.
“There was nothing abnormal noted in the logs during these checks on the night the alleged incident took place,” the release states.
During the course of the investigation, detectives learned that Giampetro admitted to another individual that he had made up the rape allegations and contacted “PREA” because he wanted to get out of his cell. PREA stands for Prison Rape Elimination Act, a federal law to address allegations of sexual assaults in prisons that requires a full investigation.
According to the probable cause affidavit for Giampetro’s arrest, detectives reviewed an Oct. 14 prison call in which Giampetro allegedly admitted to the caller that he made up the allegation. During that conversation, Giampetro said he felt like the cellmate “was gonna do something weird” to him.
“I made a bigger scene than I had to,” Giampetro allegedly told the caller, according to the affidavit.
When detectives attempted on Oct. 30 to speak with Giampetro regarding the alleged rape, he refused to provide details, “and instead became agitated and stormed out of CID headquarters,” the release states.
Copeland commended prison investigators for immediately contacting authorities following the report of the assault, as well as Pisani and Bellis for conducting a full investigation “to determine the truth in this matter.”
As a result of the investigation, a warrant for Giampeto’s arrest was obtained on Nov. 5 and he was subsequently taken into custody by Marcus Hook police.
Charged with false report involving falsely incriminating another, Giampetro was preliminarily arraigned on Nov. 6. At that time he was unable to make bail, which was set at 10 percent of $25,000, and was remanded to the county prison. His bail was posted on Nov. 9, according to online court records. It was not immediately known if Giampetro had retained an attorney. A preliminary hearing is listed for Nov. 15 before Magisterial District Judge Wendy B. Roberts.
Meanwhile, Giampetro is due to appear Nov. 27 for a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge David R. Griffin on the terroristic threats and harassment offenses. That incident allegedly occurred on Oct. 4. His bail in that case was set at 10 percent of $50,000.