John Ozbilgen hasn’t been charged in the disappearance of ex-girlfriend Stephanie Parze, but prosecutors are using their fraught relationship to keep him in jail pending his unrelated child pornography case.
The defendant sent 10 unanswered texts to her the night before she went missing, Monmouth County assistant prosecutor Caitlyn Sidley said in court according to The Asbury Park Press. His statements were curse-laden. They said Parze “always has to make their relationship suck,” and addressed her as a “f—— c—,” authorities said.
The prosecution also said the Parze filed a simple assault domestic violence complaint against her ex-boyfriend on Sept. 23. The defendant allegedly hit her in the head, and Parze voiced concern for her life because he kept having contact with her after that day, authorities said. Authorities said Ozbilgen faced three separate domestic violence allegations from three victims this year.
The defendant’s attorney Robert A. Honecker Jr. told the court that the single child pornography charge didn’t justify the defendant staying in custody. The judge decided to release the defendant from jail.
A hearing for that simple assault case is scheduled for December 17.
Ozbilgen is being held for allegedly possessing 10 sexual images of children, including toddlers. Authorities described him as a person of interest in the disappearance of ex-girlfriend Parze.
The missing woman, a resident of Freehold Township, reportedly went missing after hanging out with her parents in New Brunswick on October 30.
“It was like a perfect, perfect night and everybody had a good time,” mother Sharlene Parze told NBC New York. Father Ed Parze said it wasn’t like their daughter to disappear without contacting them.
The missing woman’s Facebook activity showed that she was in some sort of relationship with Ozbilgen, at least as of August.
[Image via Freehold Township Police Department]
