Prosecutor: Ex-boyfriend of missing woman sent profanity-laced texts on night she disappeared

The ex-boyfriend of a Freehold woman who is missing had apparently sent her a string of profanity-laced text messages on the night she disappeared.

News 12 Staff

Nov 19, 2019, 5:22 PM

Updated 1,642 days ago

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The ex-boyfriend of a Freehold woman who is missing had apparently sent her a string of profanity-laced text messages on the night she disappeared.
Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Caitlyn Sidley said in a court hearing Tuesday that 29-year-old John Ozbilgen sent Stephanie Parze multiple text messages over a nine-minute period that were angry and full of expletives – with the final message containing the “f-word” and an inappropriate slur for a woman.
Ozbilgen was in court Tuesday for a detention hearing relating to a third-degree child pornography charge. Authorities say that they found images of children being sexually abused on Ozbilgen’s phone. They were found during a search warrant related to Parze’s disappearance.
“[Ozbilgen] had 10 separate victims in those images that were on his phone. Ten separate babies, 10 separate toddlers, young children who were sexually exploited or assaulted for his and others’ gratification,” Sidley said.
The prosecutor argued that Ozbilgen should remain in jail pending a trial because he was a danger to the public.
"There is literally nothing that can stop him from his behavior, which is again, his very nature, hidden from the light of day,” Sidley said. “We submit there's no way to protect the community, specifically females, from this defendant other than to detain him pending trial."
But Judge Paul Escandon disagreed and ordered that Ozbilgen be released pending the trial, saying that there wasn't a strong enough case to keep Ozbilgen behind bars on the third-degree child pornography charge.
Ozbilgen was ordered to refrain from drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and to find and keep employment. He was also ordered to live at his parents’ home in Freehold.
"I think that's what Judge Escandon did, he looked at [my client] and reviewed them and determined the final analysis that since my client was only charged with one count of child pornography. that count in of itself didn't arise to the level where he should be kept in custody,” said defense attorney Robert Honecker.
Parze went missing on Oct. 30 after leaving a family event. Her family says that her last communication with them was a Snapchat video of her driving home. Ozbilgen has not faced any charges relating to Parze’s disappearance, but police have stated that he is a person of interest.


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