Charges on hold in sexual assault on baby

Charges on hold in sexual assault on baby

May 29, 2001

By Aspen C. Emmett
Journal Staff Writer

The case of an alleged sexual assault on an 8-month-old baby remains in limbo two months after the incident as the suspect undergoes psychiatric evaluation at the state mental hospital in Pueblo.

Last winter, 21-year-old Joseph Stuckman of Cortez, was declared incompetent to stand trial in an unrelated case in which he was charged with third-degree assault and child abuse causing injury for an alleged assault on a 15-year-old boy.

Now charged with three counts for the alleged sexual assault of an infant March 28, Stuckman must be restored to competency to stand trial, according to District Attorney Joe Olt.

"The last word we got is they’re looking to see if they can restore him to competency in the other case," Olt told the Journal. "Right now everything’s on hold."

Stuckman has been charged with Class 3 felony assault on a child using force, Class 2 felony first-degree aggravated sexual assault and a sentence-enhancing charge of violent crime causing death or serious injury.

Olt said prosecution of the case hinges on Stuckman’s ability to be restored to competency, but regardless, he will be in custody — either in jail or at the hospital — until the case is resolved.

"If he’s found to not be competent to stand trial and not restorable, he stays in custody while they’re trying to restore him for as long as the maximum penalty of the crime was," Olt said.

"During that time, however, the court gets to look at him every six months to make sure that he is still not competent to stand trial."

Following the incident, Stuckman said he might have accidentally injured the child while changing her diaper, according to the arrest affidavit. He denied penile penetration.

If convicted of the assault, he faces up to 40 years in prison.

The baby, who was initially in critical condition and flown to Denver Children’s Hospital, is reportedly back at her home in Cortez and continues to recover from her severe injuries.

During Stuckman’s arraignment hearing in April, defense attorney Suzanne Carlson stated the first evaluation found him to be moderately to severely retarded with an IQ of 50.

Stuckman, who grew up in Cortez, is described by former employers as a "light-hearted individual" with a pleasant demeanor who was "fully capable" of performing his job tasks.

While employed by Denny’s Restaurant, Stuckman was a dishwasher who reportedly kept track of his wages and behaved in an appropriate manner while on the job.

"He knew how many hours he worked and handled his money well," Denny’s District Manager Jim Coulter told the Journal. "Other people I’ve worked with — they can’t do that. It doesn’t mean they’re good or bad. It just means he has more capabilities than some of the people I work with."

Coulter said Stuckman was "a good, normal, everyday employee who left on his own accord after three or four months."

"He was a normal guy who joked within professional standards," Coulter said. "He was not an angry person at all."

"He was always trying to make us laugh," commented Wiona Bane of Bane’s Custom Packing in Cortez. Stuckman worked for the local meat-packing company during two different seasons when the business was busy processing wild-game meat from hunting season.

"He was just a general worker," Bane said. "He boned meat and cleaned. He operates and could do the things you tell him to do.

"He did make an effort to be here even though he had no way to get here most of the time. Sometimes we had to go get him. Sometimes he walked, but he did come to work. On the whole, he was a very jolly person. "