15 Arrested In Monmouth County Child Porn Sweep: Prosecutor

FREEHOLD, NJ — Fifteen people from the Monmouth County area have been charged in a child pornography sweep after a five-month investigation, the Monmouth County prosecutor's office announced Wednesday morning.

Among those arrested are a vice president of operations for ING Financial Markets, an associate director at Princeton University, and a former member of the Atlantic Highlands Environmental Commission, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said.

The investigation, dubbed "Operation Trading Post," focused on those seeking out and trafficking in child pornographic materials, Gramiccioni said. Some of those arrested were identified as a result of tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the prosecutor's office said.

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"It is incumbent on everyone, particularly those of us in law enforcement, to protect children from harm and exploitation. To that end, Operation Trading Post caught individuals who shamelessly viewed and shared depraved images of children being sexually abused," he said.

The operation, carried out by the Computer Crimes Unit of the prosecutor's office and the Monmouth County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force between June 2018 and October 2018 resulted in the following arrests:

• William McMahon, 64, of Brookside Avenue in Keansburg, a deli worker at Acme Markets, was arrested Aug. 3, 2018, following an investigation involving an undercover chat on Doublelist.com. McMahon believed he was chatting with, and made plans to meet, a 14-year-old boy. McMahon was charged with one count of luring and one count of attempted sexual assault — both second-degree crimes — and one count of third-degree attempted endangering the welfare of a child. McMahon is represented by Brian Goldenfarb, Esq.
• Jonathan Henry, 22, of Octavia Place in Keyport, who was a dishwasher at The Turning Point, was arrested June 19, 2018; he is accused of uploading child pornography to Twitter and Dropbox. Henry is charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Henry is represented by Christopher Aiello, Esq.
• Michael Balbosa, 34, Fifth Avenue in Neptune City, a courier with Federal Express, was arrested June 29, 2018; he is accused of using peer-to-peer file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online. Balbosa is charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Balbosa is represented by Jonathan F. Marshall, Esq.
• Anthony Johnson, 38, of Ninth Avenue in Neptune Township, who is unemployed, was arrested July 10, 2018; he is accused of uploading child pornography to Dropbox. Johnson is charged with one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Johnson is represented by Patricia Colligan, Esq.
• Rene Torres, 48, of Gettysburg Drive in Howell Township, the vice president of operations for ING Financial Markets, was arrested July 18, 2018; he is accused of uploading child pornography to Flikr. Torres is charged with one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Torres is represented by Jonathan F. Marshall, Esq.
• A juvenile from Holmdel was arrested July 25, 2018; he is accused of using peer-to-peer file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online. The juvenile is charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). The juvenile is represented by Robert A. Honecker, Esq.
• Brian Foley, 60, of Asbury Avenue in Atlantic Highlands, an information technology specialist with Cerner Corp. and former member of the Atlantic Highlands Environmental Commission, was arrested July 26, 2018; he is accused of uploading child pornography to the website Motherless. Foley is charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Foley is represented by Edward Washburne, Esq.
• Alexander Ecock, 22, of Grenoble Court in Freehold, was arrested July 31, 2018; he is accused of using peer-to-peer file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online. Ecock is charged with one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Ecock is represented by Richard Incremona, Esq.
• Thiago Thebald-Simas, 24, of Oakhill Avenue, in Long Branch, who is unemployed, was arrested Aug. 24, 2018; he is accused of using peer-to-peer file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online. Thebald-Simas is charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Thebald-Simas is represented by Claudio Stanziola, Esq.
• David Wu, 32, of Skyline Drive in Hazlet, a logistics specialist with Vanguard, was arrested Aug. 29, 2018; he is accused of using peer-to-peer file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online. Wu is charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Wu is represented by Jonathan F. Marshall, Esq.
• Joshua Valerio, 37, of White Street in Eatontown, a laborer at Love, Inc., was arrested Sept. 20, 2018; he is accused of uploading child pornography to Gmail. Valerio is charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Valerio is represented by Steven Nelson, Esq.
• Fady Elghazaly, 33, of Ravenswood Road in Marlboro, a mechanic with United Airlines, was arrested Sept. 26, 2018; he is accused of using peer-to-peer file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online. Elghazaly is charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Elghazaly is represented by Mitchell Ansell, Esq.
• Ronald Paul, 56, of Haverford Court in Freehold, was arrested Oct. 18, 2018; he is accused of uploading child pornography to Tumblr. Paul is charged withone count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Paul is represented by Michael Grasso, Esq.
• Ryan Marques, 18, of Dorado Beach Court in Howell, a student, was arrested Nov. 19, 2018; he is accused of uploading child pornography to Dropbox. A warrant was issued for Marques’s arrest on October 25, 2018 charging him with one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Marques is represented by Raymond Santiago, Esq.
• Gregory Cantrell, 61, of Mariners Cove in Howell, the associate director of environmental health and safety at Princeton University, was arrested Nov. 5, 2018; he is accused of uploading child pornography to Bing Image. Cantrell is charged with one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Cantrell is represented by Kevin Clark, Esq.

Assisting in the investigation were members of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and the Asbury Park, Freehold Borough, Hazlet Township, Holmdel Township, Howell Township, Keansburg, Keyport, Manalapan Township, Marlboro Township, Middletown Township, Ocean Township, Red Bank, Sea Bright, Spring Lake, Tinton Falls, and Wall Township police departments.

McMahon is being held pending trial; the remaining defendants were released on the conditions that they have no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18 and not use the internet, the prosecutor's office said.

The second-degree charges carry a potential sentence of 10 years in prison and the third-degree charges carry a possible five-year sentence, along with Megan's Law and parole supervision for life.

All the cases are assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutors Martha Nye and Stephanie Dugan.

Note: This article has been updated to correct the town for Gregory Cantrell, who lives in Howell. Authorities said his home is in Freehold, but that is a mailing address quirk of the U.S. Postal Service, and his home is in Howell.

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