Red Bank 'Upskirting' Charge Leads To Indictment

FREEHOLD, N.J.—A Monmouth County Grand Jury has indicted a Somerset County man accused of taking lewd photographs of a juvenile female at a local car dealership last year, in an incident described as “upskirting, ” authorities said.

David M. Chapinski, 41, of the Somerset section of Franklin Township was named in a five-count indictment, charged with first-degree manufacturing of child sexual abuse materials, second-degree manufacturing of child sexual abuse materials, third-degree invasion of privacy, and two counts of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said Wednesday.

The incident took place shortly after 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 2, 2021, at the Auto Exotica car dealership on Newman Springs Road in Red Bank, according to an investigation by members of the Red Bank Police Department, assisted by members of the Prosecutor’s Office, authorities said.

The investigation showed that, while at the dealership, a man later identified as Chapinski approached a teenage girl wearing a dress, who was on site looking at vehicles with her parents and two siblings. He placed his cell phone flat in the palm of his hand, and surreptitiously positioned it between the girl’s legs from behind in order to record photographs, according to the prosecutor's office.

Chapinski was arrested without incident and criminally charged in August 2021.

“The act of ‘upskirting’ isn’t just disturbing, degrading and demeaning – it’s illegal," Linskey said.

She urged anyone who may have been victimized in this way to contact Monmouth County Prosecutor Sgt. Shawn Murphy at 800-533-7443 or Red Bank Police Department Detective Sean Hauschildt at 732-530-2700.

If convicted of the first-degree crime he is charged with, Chapinski would face up to 20 years in state prison, with the possibility of up to 10 years for a conviction on the second-degree charge.

The case was assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Lavender. Chapinski is represented by Richard G. Potter of Hackensack.

Meanwhile, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor's office, Chapinski had been arrested on Aug. 31, 2021, in Paramus and charged with one count of second-degree production of child pornography and one count of third-degree possession of child pornography. The arrest was the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Cyber Crimes Unit after analysis of Chapinski's electronic devices, according to a Sept. 1, 2021 news release. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said in an email response that Chapinski has been indicted in Bergen County, according to Elizabeth Rebein, assistant prosecutor/public information officer.