Manchester Man Faces Child Porn Charges: Prosecutor

MANCHESTER, NJ — A Manchester Township man who authorities say had thousands of images of children performing sexual acts has been arrested, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced Wednesday.

Lawrence Fascia, 63, of Manchester, was arrested Tuesday on one count of third-degree possession of child pornography and one count of second-degree child pornography, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor's office.

Fascia became the target of an investigation after the FBI received an anonymous tip regarding his activities on the internet, Della Fave said. The FBI passed the tip along to the High Tech Crime Unit of the Ocean County Prosecutor's office as part of their partnership in the Innocent Images Initiative Task Force, he said.

The investigation, by the High Tech Crimes Unit, with assistance from the prosecutor's office's Megan’s Law Unit, revealed that Fascia was allegedly actively trading images with other adults of prepubescent children engaged in sexual acts, Della Fave said.

A search warrant was executed at Fascia's Drake Road residence on Tuesday, and the search revealed a collection of thousands of graphic images of prepubescent children engaged in sexual acts, as well as evidence of trading the images via email as Fascia built his collection, Della Fave said.

Fascia's bail was originally set at $25,000, no 10 percent option, by Judge Wendel Daniels. Due to substantial health-related issues, Fascia was released to home confinement, Della Fave said. Fascia is required to be on ankle bracelet monitoring until trial and is prohibited from accessing the internet and electronic devices/computers as a condition of his release, he said. Fascia is also barred from having any contact with minors, Della Fave said.

Lawrence Fascia, photo via Ocean County Corrections Department