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PHOENIX – Court documents are providing more details on the arrest of a 31-year-old man who is accused of sexual misconduct involving minors.
What we know:
Per investigators, Joseph Alfred Galati was arrested on Aug. 22.
While court documents did not list a workplace for Galati, officials with the City of Phoenix said Galati worked as a Human Resource Officer for the city.
The investigation into Galati began in late April, when a 13-year-old boy who was being interviewed for an unrelated matter revealed an incident that allegedly involved Galati.
Court documents contained graphic description of what allegedly happened, but according to the boy, he and a 12-year-old, identified only as “Victim B,” had a sleepover, and Victim B asked the 13-year-old if he could come with him to meet with someone that Victim B met on Snapchat.
“They went outside and a guy picked them up in a truck,” read a portion of the court documents. Sexual conduct allegedly happened after that.
Police said they later interviewed Victim B, who said he eventually asked if they could leave, and the 13-year-old said yes. The man then told the suspect that he would harm them if they told anyone.
Investigators say the 13-year-old’s mother confirmed that her son spent the night at Victim B’s house from April 12 to April 13.
According to court documents, the incident involving the 13-year-old and Victim B was captured on video. The videos were found on the 13-year-old’s phone. Investigators later managed to track down the suspect’s vehicle, and discovered it was registered to Galati.
Galati, according to investigators, was identified by the 13-year-old in a photographic lineup.
Dig deeper:
Investigators said in an interview that was done after Galati was read his Miranda rights, Galati said he met a male on an LGBT dating app, and that he met the male, along with a friend of the male, in person.
Galati, per court documents, also said he engaged in sexual conduct with one of the males, but denied knowing that either of the two were underage.
What’s next:
Galati, according to court documents, is accused of two counts of sexual conduct with a minor, and two counts of public sexual indecency. Both are felonies.
A judge has set a cash-only $150,000 bond for Galati. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 2.
Crime and Public SafetyTollesonPhoenixNews