Child Porn Probe Nets Jackson Zoning Board Member: Prosecutor

JACKSON, NJ — A sitting member of the Jackson Township Zoning Board is facing aggravated assault and child pornography charges after he was found with a loaded gun during the execution of a search warrant at his home Tuesday, authorities said Wednesday.

Anthony Marano, 29, of Jackson, was arrested Tuesday at his home on Eucalyptus Court, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County prosecutor's office.

Marano is an operations manager for MONOC, the EMS company, managing EMS services in the southern division, said Jeff Behm, senior vice president and chief operating officer for MONOC.

Marano, who joined MONOC as a paramedic in January 2012 and was promoted to EMS operations manager in March 2014, was suspended Tuesday, Behm said.

"Marano’s role as a supervisor included daily operations of MONOC’s Monmouth and Ocean counties EMS system as well as providing paramedic services in the region," Behm said in a news release. He said Marano's daily duties consisted of delivering supplies to satellite stations, responding to multi-victim incidents, and managing the EMS employees on duty during his shift.

"MONOC management was completely unaware of Mr. Marano’s activities outside of the workplace," Behm said.

Marano also lists EMS coordinator for Six Flags Great Adventure on his Facebook profile. Kristin Siebeneicher, a spokeswoman for Six Flags, confirmed that Marano is an employee of the park. He has been suspended, she said.

"The safety and well being of our guests and team members is our top priority and we have zero tolerance for any unlawful behavior," Siebeneicher said.

Marano's biography on his Facebook page also lists involvement in the Boy Scouts, though it's unclear what his role was and how recently he was involved.

Jim Gillick, Scout Executive for the Jersey Shore Council of Boy Scouts of America, said Marano worked for the organization from 2010 to 2011 as a district executive, working with and coordinating volunteers. He was not working directly with youth members of the organization, Gillick said. Marano also was a youth member of the organization, he said.

"We have youth protection policies in place to protect our youth members," Gillick said, including two-deep leadership that aims to ensure there are no children alone with a single adult at any time and stringent criminal background checks.

"We have no indication" of any criminal activity involving the Boy Scouts, Gillick said.

Della Fave said when authorities went to Marano's home to execute the search warrant and announced themselves, they saw Marano go from his living room to a bedroom instead of answering the door.

"They then forced entry and were met by the defendant exiting the bedroom with a handgun in his hand," Della Fave said. The detectives ordered Marano multiple times to drop the weapon before he finally complied, Della Fave said. After Marano was secured, the gun was found to be loaded and had a round of ammunition in the chamber, he said.

Della Fave said the arrest was the result of months of investigation by the High Tech Crimes Unit of the prosecutor's office, which first began investigating the matter in December 2016.

Proactive cyber monitoring by the High Tech Crimes unit had alerted authorities that someone within Ocean County had downloaded images of prepubescent children engaged in sexual acts, Della Fave said. But it took some time to connect that action to Marano "due to covert cyber measures," he said. They continued to investigate and with the assistance of additional information from the FBI Cyber Crime Task Force were able to gather enough evidence for the search warrant. The prosecutor's office also was assisted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Jackson Township Police Department, Della Fave said.

At Marano's home authorities found numerous images of child pornography, Della Fave said.

Marano has been charged with aggravated assault, possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography, he said. He is being held at the Ocean County Jail pending a first appearance hearing.

Editor's note: This article was updated with responses from Six Flags and the Jersey Shore Council of Boy Scouts.

Anthony Marano photo provided by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office