Ocean Co. Sex Offender Enticed Explicit Photos From Child: Feds

LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, NJ — A Little Egg Harbor man who is a registered sex offender has been arrested on charges he convinced another child to send him sexually explicit images, including images of the victim's genitals, the U.S. attorney's office said.

David Frew, 41, was arrested Wednesday morning, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Frew, who was convicted of child pornography charges in 2008, is accused of using an online messaging service in June 2017 to talk to the child.

Authorities allege that at Frew’s request, the child sent Frew the sexually explicit images and engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a child, one count of online enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual conduct, and one count of receipt of child pornography. Frew appeared Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lois H. Goodman in Trenton federal court.

Authorities said Frew was convicted in 2008 on three counts of unlawful contact with a minor and one count of criminal use of a computer in Pennsylvania, after he sent sexually explicit photos or videos to investigators in the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit, who were posing online as underage girls. He also was convicted in New Jersey of endangering the welfare of children.

Because Frew is a previously convicted sex offender, he faces a mandatory minimum jail sentence of 25 years and could face life in prison, plus fines, Carpenito's office said. He is a registered sex offender, authorities said.

Carpenito credited special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Atlantic City, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian Michael; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Technical Crime Unit; the RCMP National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre; the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, and the Little Egg Harbor Police Department, under the direction of Chief Richard Buzby Jr., with the investigation leading to the arrest.