Freehold Pair Charged In Child Porn Sweep: MCPO

FREEHOLD, NJ — Two Freehold residents are among 15 people arrested in a child pornography sweep announced Wednesday by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

Ronald Paul and Alexander Ecock have been arrested as part of Operation Trading Post, Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said. The five-month investigation, from June to October, focused on those viewing and trafficking in child pornography, he said.

Paul, 56, of Haverford Court in Freehold, is retired. He was arrested Oct. 18 and is accused of uploading child pornography to Tumblr. Paul 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). He is represented by Michael Grasso, Esq.

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Ecock, 22, of Grenoble Court in Freehold, was arrested July 31 and is accused of using peer-to-peer file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online. Ecock, who had been a student at Rowan University, 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.

Paul was identified as a result of tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Gramiccioni said.

Both were released to await trial on conditions that they have no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18 and not use the internet, the prosecutor's office said.

Note: This article has been updated to remove the reference to Gregory Cantrell, who was among those charged. Cantrell is not a Freehold resident. Though authorities said his home is in Freehold, it is actually in Howell and has a Freehold mailing address due to a quirk of the U.S. Postal Service.

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Photos provided by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office