Jersey City Men Among 79 Charged In Child Porn Bust

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Two Jersey City men are among the 79 charged in a statewide child sexual predator bust, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced Thursday in a release.

"Operation Safety Net," a nine-month, multi-agency child protection initiative, targeted sex offenders who exploited the internet and social media, making arrests in every New Jersey county.

Raul Rodriguez, 33, and Jonathan Latiff 40, both of Jersey City, were charged with possession of child pornography. More information about their alleged crimes was not immediately available.

The two men were among the 41 charged with distribution, and the 66 charged with possession.

Those arrested in Operation Safety Net included child predators in California and Indiana who allegedly tried to have children transported interstate from New Jersey by adult traffickers so they could have sex with the children, Porrino said.

Others arrested included four men in New Jersey who allegedly sought to lure children for sex, a camp counselor who allegedly sexually assaulted a girl, 14, under his supervision, a youth minister who allegedly sent lewd photos of himself to a young girl and a man, 24, who allegedly used a phone app to record underage girls performing sex acts on themselves, Porrino said.

Authorities made use of two new tools available to them during Operation Safety Net: A law enforcement dog trained to detect electronic devices and a mobile forensics van.

Electronic devices are becoming smaller and made to look like everyday objects, including cuff links, bracelets and coins. The dogs were used at locations to find such devices that were not kept in plain sight where police executed search warrants.

"The men we arrested lurked in the shadows of the internet and social media, looking for opportunities to sexually assault young children or to view such unspeakable assaults by sharing child pornography," said Porrino. "We set up a wide safety net in this operation to snare these alleged predators and to protect children, which remains our highest priority."

Read more about the arrests here.

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