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Jan. 19, 2002
by Aspen C. Emmett A Cortez man accused of sexually assaulting an 8-month-old baby in March 2001 is awaiting a competency hearing after authorities at the Colorado State Hospital in Pueblo determined he was ready to stand trial. Joseph Stuckman, 22, is facing charges of 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. If convicted, Stuckman could be sentenced up to 40 years in prison. However, the case has been on hold since last spring because of a ruling by the District Judge Sharon Hansen that Stuckman was not competent to stand trial in two separate, unrelated cases preceding the alleged rape and consequently requiring him to be sent to the state psychiatric hospital in Pueblo. According to district-court records, Stuckman is charged with theft and auto trespass in one incident. He is also charged with third-degree assault and child abuse causing injury on a 15-year-old boy in another case pending in count court. Recently, though, Stuckman was transported back to Cortez, where he is being held at the Montezuma County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond. "He’s been restored to competency — or at least the state hospital believes he has," District Attorney Joe Olt told the Journal Tuesday. A preliminary hearing in the rape case was scheduled this week in county court; however, it was continued until after next month’s competency review hearing. According to an affidavit for warrantless arrest issued last March, the baby was with her father and Stuckman on the night of March 29 when they drove to a liquor store and then stopped at a friend’s house. While they were at the friend’s house, the baby was apparently left in the vehicle with Stuckman while the father went inside for about 10 minutes. In the father’s absence, Stuckman said, he decided to change the baby’s dirty diaper, according to the affidavit. However, police were not able to find a dirty diaper where Stuckman claimed to have disposed of it and the father said there had been no extra diapers in the vehicle, the affidavit said. At the time of the alleged assault, Stuckman reportedly told police that he could have accidentally penetrated the baby with his finger while changing her diaper, according to Montezuma County Court records. He denied penile penetration, but police said physical evidence was gathered from the baby and sent to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for analysis. When the father returned home with the baby and Stuckman, the baby’s mother — who had been in Dolores with a friend for the majority of the day — saw blood in the baby’s diaper and took her to Southwest Memorial Hospital. Police then responded to the hospital. The baby was subsequently airlifted to Denver, where she underwent six hours of surgery to repair vaginal and anal lacerations. Since then, the baby, now nearly 18 months old, has undergone other surgeries and treatment as part of her lengthy recovery. According to the affidavit, Stuckman voluntarily went to the police station for questioning and was arrested the same evening. The baby’s father told police he did not know of the baby’s injuries until the mother discovered the bloody diaper. In 1994, Stuckman was sentenced to 12 months’ probation for underage consumption, and in 1998, a charge against him for harboring a runaway was dismissed in Montezuma County Court. Stuckman’s competency review is scheduled for Feb. 22 at 9 a.m. in district court. |
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