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In puzzling case of dead tot, sex assault ruled out

There were no indications the 3-year-old Haddon Township boy who was found dead was sexually assaulted, and no signs of forced entry at the apartment from where he was reported missing, authorities said Wednesday.

Brendan Link Creato

There were no indications the 3-year-old Haddon Township boy who was found dead was sexually assaulted, and no signs of forced entry at the apartment from where he was reported missing, authorities said Wednesday.

The revelations added some clues to the puzzling case, in which no arrests have been made.

An attorney for Brendan Link Creato's father also said in an interview Wednesday that D.J. Creato was not a suspect, and that the father had spoken to investigators without a lawyer present.

"The police have told me unequivocally that there are no suspects, that my client is not a suspect, and that they're trying to piece together what happened here," said Richard J. Fuschino Jr., a Philadelphia defense attorney. "And in truth my client and his family are trying to do the exact same thing."

D.J. Creato, 22, reported his son missing in a 911 call around 6 a.m. on Oct. 13, causing residents to scour their Westmont neighborhood after police sent out an automated call to the community about the disappearance.

Three hours later, Brendan's body was discovered in the woods near South Park Drive and Cooper Street, about half a mile from his father's apartment.

The tragedy has stirred rumors and anxiety in the community about whether someone caused the boy's death. Besides providing the new information, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office declined to comment further on the investigation.

An autopsy last week was unable to determine a cause of death. The prosecutor's office said earlier this week the state medical examiner's office had assisted it.

A family friend had advised Creato to hire an attorney to help him navigate through the unfamiliar legal process, not because Creato had anything to hide, Fuschino said.

"In any situation where you have something this complicated and involved, it is smart and good advice to have a lawyer," Fuschino said.

Upon discovering that Brendan was missing, Creato called his mother, who lives a block away, and then 911, Fuschino said. The calls happened within minutes, he said.

In the background of the 911 call, Creato's mother, Lisa, can be heard yelling Brendan's name.

"I just woke up and he wasn't in my apartment," D.J. Creato told a dispatcher, according to a recording of the call. "I don't know if he wandered out or what happened. I don't know where he is. The door was locked, I guess he unlocked it and left."

Addressing concerns that Creato sounded too calm in the call, Fuschino said the father believed Brendan was somewhere near the apartment.

"No one thinks at first the worst has happened," Fuschino said. "So I think it's certainly a level of concern you hear in his voice, but he's not hysterical.

"It would be rather astonishing to me," Fuschino added, "if he had any level of terror in his voice that suggested he knew more than he did."

Creato's parents, Lisa and David Creato, also have retained legal counsel to assist them during the investigative process, Philadelphia attorney William J. Brennan said.

"My clients are devastated," Brennan said in an interview. "They're in the process of attempting to bury their grandchild, and they are cooperating with law enforcement. We hope to have some answers as to how this tragedy occurred."

In the past, Brennan has defended clients in high-profile cases, including two priests accused in a child sex-abuse scandal that rocked the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 2011. Fuschino worked with Brennan on the defense teams of the Rev. James J. Brennan (to whom William Brennan is not related), and the Rev. Andrew McCormick.

Funeral services for Brendan, which the family has said will be private, are scheduled Thursday at Blake-Doyle Funeral Home in Collingswood.

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