Drug Awareness Lecturer Sent Nude Photos To Teen Girl, Prosecutor Says

Billy Egan has spent the last few years trying to teach kids all over New Jersey about the dangers of heroin, sharing his story of his personal recovery.

Now, however, the 27-year-old is accused of trying to teach a lesson he shouldn’t be to a student: Egan was arrested Friday on charges he sent nude photos of himself to a Beachwood teenager he met during a drug awareness lecture at her high school, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

Egan also is facing charges of possession of amphetamines and anabolic steroids discovered during the execution of a court-approved search warrant at his Mattison Avenue apartment in Asbury Park, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

Egan is a former heroin addict who lectures at schools and organizations all over the state as a speaker with the Minding Your Mind nonprofit organization, which aims to educate people about mental health, with the goal of reducing “the stigma and destructive behaviors often associated with mental health issues,” according to the organization’s website.

Egan’s biography on the Minding Your Mind website notes he was “he ideal high school student,” taking Advanced Placement classes and a varsity athlete who was offered several college scholarships. But an addiction to cocaine became pills and heroin and landed him in jail. “He was expelled from two colleges and at one point overdosed,” the biography says.

“Billy has a gift for honest storytelling and uses the hindsight of his experience as a powerful teaching tool,” the biography said. “He wants to use what he has learned to instruct young people about the dangers of alcohol and drugs. His message is a message of hope; Billy believes no one is too far from help. With structured support and commitment, anyone can heal, recover and have a fresh start.”

He had been living in long-term recovery for more than five years, according to the biography.

Della Fave said the prosecutor’s office was contacted by Beachwood police after they were notified that the teenager had been receiving nude photos from an adult male. The investigation by detectives from the High Tech Crimes Unit of the prosecutor’s office led them to Egan, he said.

The search warrant was executed with members of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crimes Unit, the Asbury Park Police Department and the Beachwood Police Department, he said. Detectives seized numerous items containing digital evidence, as well as numerous controlled substances (amphetamines and anabolic steroids), Della Fave said.

Egan has been charged with third-degree endangering the welfare of a child and sending obscenities to persons under 18, Della Fave said. He was additionally charged by Asbury Park detectives with two counts of third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance, Della Fave said.

The Ocean County charges were approved by Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Hillary Bryce and were signed by Lt. Glen Demarco of the Beachwood Police Department. Bail was set at $50,000, no 10 percent, by Ocean County Superior Court Judge Wendel Daniels. Egan also is subject to Nicole’s Law, a court ordered restraining order preventing contact with the victim, Della Fave said.

Bail amount on the Asbury Park charges was not immediately available.

To protect the victim’s identity there will be no further details regarding the investigation or identifiers. The media and the public are reminded that criminal charges are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.