TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Manchester Township man has been indicted on charges he was distributing child sexual abuse materials, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.
Phillip M. Ommundsen, 39, was indicted Sept. 9 on three counts of distribution of child sexual abuse material and one count of possession of child sexual abuse material by an Ocean County grand jury, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.
Ocean County authorities were notified of someone sending videos of child sexual assault to other accounts using a Kik messenger account, according to the probable cause affidavit, and detectives traced it to an IP address associated with a home in Manchester. That home was identified as Ommundsen's residence, authorities said.
Detectives then learned Ommundsen was in prison in Pennsylvania after he was arrested Sept. 27, 2024, when he arrived to meet up but was met instead by law enforcement officers in Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania, the Courier-Express of Dubois, Pennsylvania, reported.
Reynoldsville is about two hours northeast of Pittsburgh, just south of Interstate 80.
Ommundsen talked online to the supposed 15-year-old for nearly two months before driving out to meet her and getting arrested, the Courier-Express report said.
He was charged with criminal attempt, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a person less than 16 years of age; one count of criminal attempt sexual assault; one count of criminal attempt aggravated indecent assault, complainant less than 16 years of age; one count of criminal use of a communication facility; one count of criminal attempt indecent assault of a person less than 16 years of age; one count of criminal attempt corruption of minors, defendant age 18 or above; and one felony count of criminal attempt the manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, the report said.
Ommundsen's cell phone was being held in evidence by police in Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania, and it was retrieved by law enforcement with a search warrant, authorities said. A forensic examination showed videos and images of child sexual abuse dated between April 16, 2023, and Sept. 26, 2024, along with two Kik Messenger accounts belonging to Ommundsen, the affidavit said.
Seven child sexual abuse videos were found in the two Kik accounts, according to the affidavit, and Ommundsen was charged by Ocean County authorities on Oct. 21,2025, the affidavit said.
He pleaded guilty in March 2025 in Pennsylvania to criminal attempt to commit statutory sexual assault and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and was sentenced June 4, 2025, to 18 months to five years in prison with five years of probation after he is released from prison. He appealed the sentence but his appeal was denied in July 2026, according to court records. He remains in prison in Pennsylvania, according to court records.
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