According to the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office Chief…

According to the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Derrick O'Meara, who is the Director of the Oneida County Child Advocacy Center, 57-year-old Joseph Defazio from Waterville, has been arrested for having sexual contact with two underage female children in the Village of Waterville.

Defazio had sexual contact with one female child under the age of thirteen and another female child under the age of fourteen over the course of the past two years. Rome Police Detective Alex Sypniewski and Utica Police Investigator Ryan Kelly, both assigned to the Child Advocacy Center, conducted the investigation in July of this year.

Subsequent to indictment by the Oneida County Grand Jury, on December 05, 2022, Defazio was arrested by the Oneida County Sherriff’s Office Warrants Unit and was charged with two counts of Sexual Abuse in the 1st Degree, a Class D Felony, one count of Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degree, a class A Misdemeanor, and two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a class A Misdemeanor.

After processing, Defazio was taken to the Oneida County Sheriff’s Correctional Facility where he was arraigned and remanded to the facility in lieu of $5,000 cash bail.

An Order of Protection has been issued on behalf of the victim’s and services have been offered to the children through the Child Advocacy Center.