Manahawkin Man Accused Of Killing 2-Year-Old Retains Private Attorney [UPDATED]

The case of a 22-year-old Manahawkin man accused of sexually assaulting and murdering a 2-year-old girl is being referred to a Grand Jury, with no future court dates scheduled at this time, according to the Camden Vicinage of the Superior Court of New Jersey Criminal Division.

Michael Disporto Jr. has been charged with first-degree murder and first-degree aggravated sexual assault. Her mother Amber Bobo, 26, of Gloucester City, has been charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

Public defender Michael Presenza had originally been appointed to the case, but Disporto has since obtained private counsel, Presenza said on Tuesday. His new attorney was unavailable for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Bobo is now being represented by public defender Britt Kessler, who was also unavailable for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Cases are referred to grand juries to help a prosecutor decide if the suspects should be charged criminally or by indictment.

Disporto and Bobo are both being held on $1.5 million bail.

According to a probable cause statement from the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, Disporto had been dating Bobo for two weeks.

Disporto accompanied Bobo to pick up the girl from her father’s house the evening of July 2. Disporto had been dating 26-year-old Bobo just two weeks, authorities say.

That night, Disporto accompanied the girl to the park alone for about 10 to 15 minutes because he said he “wanted to get to know her better,” police said in the statement. He later spent about 30 minutes alone at the fireworks with the girl when Bobo said she was too tired to go with them.

Bobo slept in bed with the child that night, and Disporto slept on the couch. However, when Bobo woke up at 7 a.m., the girl was no longer in bed with her, despite the fact that she never woke up and left the room on her own in the middle of the night, according to the statement.

After going back to sleep for another two hours, Bobo found her still-sleeping daughter on the couch and unwrapped her from a blanket to discover bruising on both sides of her forehead. She also told police she noticed the girl was dressed differently than when she had gone to bed the night before.

When Bobo inquired about the bruises, Disporto claimed the girl fell in the park the night before and suggested putting ice on the bruises and letting her sleep, police said. When she bathed her daughter at 11 a.m., she noticed more bruises on her genitals and back.

Disporto denied causing the bruising, but also convinced Bobo not to take her daughter to the hospital. Later that day, when the couple took the girl to the Deptford Mall, the girl began to vomit.

She vomited a second time in the bathroom, after which the couple continued to shop for another half hour, according to the statement. The girl vomited a third time when the couple returned home, and Bobo noticed the girl’s eyes began to roll back into her head, police said.

When Bobo continued to insist on taking her to the hospital, Disporto told her he would “never see her again,” police said. She finally called 911 at 6:04 p.m., when the child became unresponsive.

When she arrived to the hospital, doctors found the child was suffering from multiple internal injuries. She underwent immediate brain surgery.

Following the surgery, she was examined for brain activity twice on July 5; there was no brain activity either time before she was taken off life support at 6:26 p.m. that day.