LOWER TWP., NJ — A Villas resident was charged after a child sexual abuse material investigation that began with two cyber tips, according to the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office.
Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland and Lower Township Police Chief Donald Vanaman announced the arrest of Thomas J. Crandley, 50, of the Villas section of Lower Township. Crandley is charged with endangering the welfare of a child for manufacturing child pornography, a second-degree crime, and endangering the welfare of a child for possession of child pornography, a third-degree crime, according to the announcement.
The investigation stemmed from two National Center for Missing and Exploited Children cyber tips that revealed an unidentified subject uploaded various images of child sexual abuse material, according to the prosecutor's office. Investigators later identified that person as Crandley, according to the announcement.
On Oct. 13, 2026, members of the Cape May County Regional SWAT Team conducted a motor vehicle stop and took Crandley into custody in Lower Township, according to the prosecutor's office. Court-authorized search warrants were then executed at Crandley's residence by the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office High Technology Crimes Unit and ICAC Task Force, the Cape May County Regional SWAT Team, the Lower Township Police Department, the Cape May Police Department, the Wildwood Crest Police Department and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Atlantic City, according to the announcement.
At the conclusion of the investigation, Crandley was charged with the two child endangerment offenses and lodged in the Cape May County Correctional Center pending court proceedings, according to the prosecutor's office.
An individual charged with a second-degree crime is subject to a term of imprisonment of five to 10 years in New Jersey State Prison, and an individual charged with a third-degree crime is subject to a term of imprisonment of three to five years in New Jersey State Prison, according to authorities.
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