Former officer convicted of raping women, posing as law enforcement

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A former officer with the Carolina Beach Police Department is going to prison  for committing numerous sexual assaults against women.

Joseph Adam Silva, 31, was convicted of four counts of second degree sexual offense, two counts of second degree rape, three counts of sexual servitude of an adult victim, and four counts of impersonating a law enforcement officer.

Silva began working with Carolina Beach Police in March of 2015. Before his probationary status ended, he was terminated.

After his termination, in January of 2016, Silva contacted a 16-year-old escort through BackPage.com. When they met, he claimed he was a police officer, showed her his former police ID card but covered his name, and showed her a picture of himself in uniform. Silva claimed he was working a prostitution operation and then raped her in his truck.

In another instance, a missing person’s report was filed regarding a young woman. When detectives found her, she reported a sexual assault at the hands of a man who claimed to be a police officer. The man had contacted her as an escort through BackPage.com. When she met the man, he showed her his former police badge and a picture of himself in police uniform. Silva again claimed he was working a prostitution operation and forced the victim to perform oral sex on him. This investigation was kept discreet as detectives were unsure if the offender was in fact an officer.

On March 15, 2016, a 19-year-old female who had advertised as an escort on BackPage.com was contacted by a man and asked to meet at a residence in Carolina Beach. Once the female arrived, the offender claimed that he was a police officer. He showed her his former police ID card, covered his name, showed her a picture in unfirom and showed her a handgun in a holster. The attacker claimed that he was working a prostitution operation and forced the victim to perform oral sex on him.  This victim had recently met FBI Special Agent Novelli. She reported the sexual assault to him the next day. She cooperated in arranging to meet the offender again so that his identity could be discovered and charges could be filed. Silva showed up for the meeting, and was taken into custody by the New Hanover Sheriff’s Office. Silva had left his three-year-old and seven-year-old children in his home asleep after leaving to meet the female next door.

After Silva’s arrest, a young woman living in Brunswick County saw him on the news and reported to the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office that Silva had assaulted her. He had contacted her through an advertisement as an escort on Craigslist. He also claimed to be a police officer and showed her a picture of himself in police uniform. He forced the victim to perform oral sex on him and raped her. Detectives found that the telephone number Silva used to contact this victim was the same number used to contact the 16-year-old victim in early January, linking him to that crime.

A forensic examination of Silva’s telephone revealed direct contact with two of the known victims, along with multiple females known to law enforcement officers to engage in prostitution and direct contact by Silva with Cape Fear Escorts.

Detectives tried to contact all of the women in the telephone; one of them reported a sexual assault that had occurred in the early morning hours of March 9, 2016, at the same residence in Carolina Beach where the March 15th assault had occurred. Silva had also contacted her through an advertisement on BackPage.com. All five women gave detailed descriptions of their attacker matching Silva.

Assistant District Attorney Connie Jordan stated, “The defendant preyed on some of the most vulnerable people in our community, people who are fearful they are going to be harmed, fearful they won’t be believed, fearful they will be arrested and sent to jail, fearful their families will find out. By holding himself out as a law enforcement, Joseph Silva placed these women in fear for their lives and also made them feel they would not be safe if they reported his crimes against them.”

Silva will serve a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 17 years in prison. When he is released from prison he will be under an additional suspended sentence of 10 – 17 years with supervised probation for a period of 60 months in the sex offender control program. Silva will have to surrender his law enforcement certification. A permanent no-contact order will be in place for all of the victims.

These convictions will also require Silva to register as an aggravated sexual offender with satellite-based monitored Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry for the rest of his life.