BREMERTON, Wash. — A 38-year-old Bremerton man was arrested Monday in connection with an alleged assault involving two boys, including his biological son, according to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office.
The father is accused of tying a noose around his son’s friend’s neck after he said he is gay.
According to court documents provided by the King County Prosecutor’s Office, Joseph Sweeney faces multiple charges, including second-degree assault and a hate crime.
The arrest followed allegations that Sweeney assaulted the two boys on October 20.
According to the court documents, Sweeney asked his 13-year-old son’s friend if he was gay; when the teen said, “Yes, is it a crime to be gay in this house?” deputies said Sweeney put a noose around his neck and tightened it.
Sweeney later chased his biological son around the house and lassoed him around his chest, the court documents added.
Both boys managed to escape, deputies said.
Sweeney allegedly recorded both boys with his cell phone while telling them to kiss each other in an effort to humiliate them, detectives said in the court documents.
Sweeney later made jokes about the 14-year-old boy being a princess, the court documents write.
A search of Sweeney’s residence also led to the discovery of a firearm, which he is prohibited from possessing due to a prior domestic violence protection order issued in Kansas City in 2023.
Sweeney denied the allegations but admitted to owning the firearm found in the house.
He was taken into custody without incident and is currently held in the Kitsap County Jail.
Sweeney was arraigned Tuesday and bail was set at $50,000.
The 14-year-old boy’s mother declined to talk on camera, but she told KIRO 7 News that the situation is horrible, and this should never happen to any child.
We also spoke with the 13-year-old and his stepfather, who lives at the home where the alleged incident took place.
“I do see why everybody is going to be so concerned about this situation, but to be honest, all of what is being claimed right now is incredibly false and these types of things would not happen in my house,” said Thorne Toliver, stepfather.
“Yes, a rope was involved with their play, but it didn’t get out of hand,” he said. “As goes for tightening, there was never tightening.”
“That’s not something that would happen and certainly in my house. There’s not going to be any form of extreme violence or hate towards each other,” he added.
KIRO 7 News also spoke with his stepson, the suspect’s biological son, who we are choosing not to identify.
“I told him (Sweeney) to be careful and he got it around his neck, making sure it wasn’t tight at all, not to hurt him. Later he got it around my stomach. I accidentally got it tight because I was scrambling around,” he shared.
We asked him if Sweeney assaulted him.
“No, he didn’t assault us. Apparently, a hate crime was happened, but it didn’t,” he replied.
We followed up and asked the teen if his father put a noose around his friend’s neck and tightened it.
“Yes, but he made sure to keep it loose and I made sure of it too,” he answered.
Sweeney’s next court appearance is scheduled for November 13.
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