Child Porn Charges Filed Against South Jersey Man After International Probe

VINELAND, NJ — A South Jersey man has been charged with child endangerment and possession of child pornography after an investigation by Australian and American federal authorities, documents show.

Australian federal police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began investigating Carlos A. Castro Jr. in May 2021, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed with his arrest by a Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office detective.

Castro, 37, has an address in Vineland, documents show. He is accused of producing and uploading sexually explicit photos and videos of a minor girl to a messenger group on Kik, the affidavit said. Jail records show he was booked on Nov. 3.

He is being held in the Cumberland County Jail on charges of distribution of child pornography, knowingly storing or maintaining items depicting the sexual exploitation of a child, and three other child endangering charges.

Those charges involve the production of child pornography, engaging "in sexual conduct which would impair or debauch the morals of the child is guilty of a crime," and filming or photographing a child in a prohibited sexual act.

Officials did not say why Australian authorities began investigating Castro.

The Department of Homeland Security asked for the Prosecutor's Office to help locate him, documents show. A Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office detective spoke with the victim's mother and also investigated the chats, images, and videos from Kik, according to records.