Howell Trio Charged Amid Child Porn Sweep: Prosecutor

FREEHOLD, NJ — Three Howell residents — including an associate director at Princeton University and a vice president of ING Financial Markets — are among 15 people who have been arrested and charged amid a five-month child pornography sweep in Monmouth County, authorities said Wednesday.

Gregory Cantrell, Rene Torres, and Ryan Marques, all of Howell, were arrested as part of "Operation Trading Post," Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said.

Cantrell, 61, is the associate director of environmental health and safety at Princeton University; according to his biography on the university website, he is responsible for workplace safety.

The prosecutor's office said Cantrell was arrested Nov. 5 and is accused of uploading child pornography to Bing Image. He is charged with one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography).

Torres, 48, of Gettysburg Drive, who was a vice president of operations for ING Financial Markets, was arrested July 18. He is accused of uploading child pornography to Flikr, Gramiccioni said, and is charged with one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Torres is not listed on the ING Financial Markets website and a Google search turned up no information beyond what was provided by the prosecutor's office.

Marques, 18, of Dorado Beach Court in Howell, is a student, Gramiccioni said. He was arrested Nov. 19 on a warrant issued Oct. 25, charging him with one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). He is accused of uploading child pornography to Dropbox.

All three men were identified after the county received tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Gramiccioni said.

"Operation Trading Post" spanned June to October 2018 as authorities targeted those seeking and trafficking in child pornography, the prosecutor's office said.

Cantrell is represented by Kevin Clark, Esq. Torres is represented by Jonathan F. Marshall, Esq.; Marques is represented by Raymond Santiago, Esq.

All 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 third-degree charges carry a possible five-year sentence, along with Megan's Law and parole supervision for life.

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Photos provided by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office