SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio imposed a $50,000 cash bail on a man accused of trying to flush his girlfriend’s head in a toilet.
Joseph Seman, 32, was charged with disturbing the peace to include domestic violence, assault and battery, aggravated assault, and strangulation.
After a hearing on April 5, 2022, Seman was remanded to the custody of the Department of Corrections and was ordered to return to court on April 13, 2022 at 10 a.m. for a preliminary hearing, and on April 18, 2022 at 9 a.m. for an arraignment.
Police said they responded to a domestic violence complaint around 2:30 p.m. on Monday, April 4, 2022.
At the scene, police met with the female caller who said she was filing a complaint against her boyfriend.
Responding officers said they observed that the woman’s bottom left eye was swollen and red.
The victim said Seman punched her face at about 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 3, and told her that if she ever told anyone about it he’d kill her.
On April 5, 2022, police investigators met with the victim again for a follow-up interview.
She told them about another incident that she said happened on March 29, 2022.
She said she had woken up to use the restroom that had a door that made a squeaky noise which woke up and angered Seman
While the victim was using the toilet, she said Seman entered the restroom and slapped her on the head, yanked her hair, and used both his hands to push her off the toilet.
The victim said Seman then instructed her to put her face in the toilet and when she did so, Seman flushed the toilet twice before threatening to kill her. She said he also told her that he would send a video to her mother.
The victim also told police that she was supposed to go to Guam on March 2, 2022 but Seman did not allow her to leave because she had a lot of bruises on her body.
She said Seman took her passport, Social Security card, and PenFed card and refused to give them back to her.
On March 13, 2022, the victim said she cooked noodles for Seman who complained that they were dry before throwing the bowl of noodles at her face.
She said he used his right leg to kick her on the left side of her stomach about 10 times while also using his right hand to punch her.
After Seman was done hitting her, she said he instructed her to get on her knees and to eat the noodles off the floor.
On March 19, 2022, the victim said she asked Seman’s sister to drop her off at the Commonwealth Health Center because she was vomiting blood.
At the hospital, she learned that she had fractured bones on her left and right cheeks and on the top right portion of her eyebrows.
She said she told Seman’s father about what she had learned from the doctors at CHC, and told him that she didn’t want to go back to their residence.
But she said Seman’s father told her that Seman wouldn’t be at their residence so she returned to their home.
When she got there, Seman was also there, she added.
In an earlier incident that happened in January 2022, she said Seman got mad at her because his food was warm.
She said he used both his hands to grab her neck and push her against the wall with her feet hanging. She said she had a hard time breathing as she begged Seman not to hurt her.
