A judicial marshal at Waterbury Superior Court has been arrested and stripped of his badge, accused of sexually assaulting a 25-year-old woman.
Michael Cocchiola, 37, was arrested Wednesday and soon after placed on administrative leave.
Just after midnight Wednesday, a woman called police and said she had been sexually assaulted, the Waterbury Republican-American reports.
She said she had fled Cocchiola’s home on Skilton Road in Watertown and was walking on the street when she called 911, the paper reported.
The 911 operator told her to go to the nearest house and wait for officers and was later taken to Waterbury Hospital, where she was evaluated and treated, the Republican American reports.
Police found Cocchiola at his home. He agreed to go to police headquarters but refused to talk and asked for his attorney, police told the newspaper.
He was arrested around 9 a.m.
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Police obtained a search warrant for his home and reportedly seized several items.
On Wednesday, the personnel manager of the court operations administration sent Cocchiola a letter placing him on administrative leave immediately “with pay pending the outcome of an administrative hearing into your off-duty conduct that may have violated Judicial Branch and Judicial Branch policy.”
He also had to hand over his badge, employee ID card and equipment belt.
Judicial marshals provide courthouse security and prisoner transportation.
Cocchiola was charged with first-degree sexual assault and unlawful second-degree restraint. He was held on a $500,000 bond.
The woman appeared to know Cocchiola, police told the newspaper.
