Arrest of Accused Sex Offender May Have Come Too Late
Green Cove Chief Says Statute-of-Limitations Issue Is Under Review With State Prosecutors
The March 19 arrest of Joseph Marroletti Jr. made a splash on the Green Cove Springs Police Facebook page which displayed three “perp walk” photos along with a police news release about sex charges involving a teenage boy.
The news release praised Detective Cora Milliken, the arresting officer, for having conducted “a thorough investigation.”
After Marroletti was transferred to the Clay County Jail for processing, the arrest continued to create a buzz, this time in local law enforcement and justice circles—and not in a good way. According to justice sources familiar with the case, Marroletti had been arrested even though the statute of limitations had expired for the alleged crimes.
Acting Police Chief Shawn Hines said the question is being reviewed by his department and the State Attorney’s Office. He stressed that his department did not knowingly ignore the statute of limitations when making the arrest.
“I can tell at the time of the arrest there was no statute-of-limitations question,” Hines said. “And as of right now, no determination has been made.”
The Marroletti case can be compared to that of former Fleming Island High School wrestling coach Paul James “PJ” Cobbert who was investigated for sexually assaulting a student while on a wrestling trip. In Cobbert’s case, however, Clay County Sheriff’s deputies understood that any crimes had happened too long ago and no arrest was made.
Part of the problem, sources said, was that Green Cove Police chose to conduct what is referred to in cop circles as a “probable-cause arrest,” meaning they did not seek a warrant from the court. Had they gone the warrant route, a lawyer from the State Attorney’s Office would have gone before a judge with case particulars, thus giving two legal experts the opportunity to double-check Green Cove’s statute-of-limitations math.
Even though no warrant was obtained, Hines said his officers had worked closely with the State’s Attorney’s Office beforehand to ensure the charges were proper. He blamed today’s uncertainty about the arrest’s validity on the complexity of Florida statute-of-limitations time limits as they apply to sex crimes against juveniles. That complexity is due to changes in Florida law in recent years, Hines said.
Statutes of limitation are an attempt to ensure fairness in the justice system by ensuring that evidence and witness testimony remain reliable as memories fade and exculpatory evidence is lost. Florida lawmakers did indeed change the legal landscape when they enacted “Donna’s Law” in 2020. How this affected statutes of limitation is explained further down in the story.
If the statute of limitations were determined to have expired, the arrest may be deemed wrongful, and the city of Green Cove Springs may be liable, justice sources said.
According to police, Marroletti confessed to having committed repulsive sex acts, but if this confession is deemed the result of a wrongful arrest, would a jury in a civil case against the city be allowed to know that a confession even happened?
Jurors would almost certainly be told about the publicly humiliating perp walk.
None of this has escaped the notice of Marroletti’s lawyers at the Bonderud Law Firm of Jacksonville. Attorney Austin Kwikkle has entered a plea of not guilty on Marroletti’s behalf. Kwikkle confirmed he is aware of the statute-of-limitations question, saying the Green Cove police should be embarrassed.
Kwikkle did not rule out a civil suit for wrongful arrest. “It puts my client in an unfavorable light. You can’t recover from this,” he said.
Judge James Kalleher is scheduled to review the case on April 21. The court record does not state a reason for the review, but one possibility is that the judge is reviewing case particulars to determine whether the case can be decided without the need for a trial. Or it could just be a routine “status conference.”
Meanwhile, Marroletti has been released on a $300,000 bond.
In recent years, statutes of limitations for some types of cases, such as child sex abuse, have been extended or eliminated altogether. This has allowed prosecution of abusers whose crimes were not reported until much later, such as when victims had reached adulthood.
This was the case with Donna’s Law in Florida. Passed in 2020, the law removed the time limitation for prosecuting sexual battery when the victim was under 18 at the time of the offense. The catch: The crime had to have happened after the law went into effect on July 1, 2020. If before that, the statute of limitations at the time was still in force.
The two charges against Marroletti were Lewd and Lascivous Battery of a Minor 12 to 16 Years Old and Molestation of a Victim 12 to 16 Years Old by a Perpetrator Over 18 Years Old. Both are second-degree felonies, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
According to police, Marroletti was 23 when he committed the first offense, continuing to molest the victim over a period of several years.
Marroletti is now 36, so the first offense would have happened 13 or 14 years ago, 2011 or 2012. According to a justice source familiar with the case, the victim turned 16 in 2015.
Before Donna’s Law, the statute of limitations for sexual assault and sexual battery cases was either three or four years, depending on the severity of the crime—whether it was a first-degree felony or a second- or third-degree felony.
Yes, this follow-up is good. But how about following up on this multi-time sexual offender...
"High School Wrestling Coach Accused Of Sexual Assault" and he is still out!!