2 Toms River Men Among 21 In Child Porn Arrests Amid Coronavirus

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Two men from the Toms River area who were arrested in July on child pornography charges were among 21 people arrested during an undercover operation targeting possible sex offenders, the state attorney general's office said Wednesday.

Henry Ziolkowski, 56, of Toms River, and Kevin Carrierri, 34, of South Toms River, both were arrested July 7 as part of investigations called "Operation Screen Capture," which targeted possible offenders who used the coronavirus lockdown as an opportunity to prey on children, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said.

The coronavirus pandemic — which shut down schools and led to children spending more time than ever on their laptops, phones and gaming consoles — led to a marked increase in online predators sexually preying on children and teens, Grewal said.

In fact, the hotline run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children noticed a nearly 50 percent increase in tips about online predators when the coronavirus outbreak first began in mid-March, he said.

"Apps and gaming systems continue to be prime hunting grounds," Grewal said. "During this pandemic, people are spending more time online," he said. "Homebound children were spending more time on their devices. But at the same time, predators were spending more time online, taking advantage of this situation."

Ziolkowski, who the attorney general's office said is a surgery technician, was charged with possession of child pornograpy after authorities identified a Toms River home as the location of several uploads of child pornography.

A computer belonging to Ziolkowski was seized and found to have numerous images of child pornography. He is still being held at the Ocean County Jail, according to jail records.

Carrieri, a chef who lives in South Toms River, was accused of distributing child pornography and also trying to traffic a child for sex, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said at the time of his arrest.

Authorities searched his home and seized his smart phone, which contained child pornography, the prosecutor's office said. Detectives also seized 200 grams of marijuana packaged for distribution, drug paraphernalia and metal knuckles, authorities said.

He was charged distribution of child pornography, possession of child pornography, endangering the welfare of a child, possession of between 1 ounce and 5 pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of more than 50 grams of marijuana, possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia, the prosecutor's office said.

Authorities said said there has been what they called "an alarming trend" of 7-year-old to 9-year-old children who are being groomed by predators into taking sexually explicit videos of themselves that they then share.

"There are children sharing videos who never shared videos before," one law enforcement official said.

"These are heinous crimes," Grewal said. "As children return to virtual learning this fall, they will be spending even more time online, in many cases without any in-person teacher supervision or peer contact. This may make them even more vulnerable. We want parents to be aware of the dangers."

"There is no higher priority for all of us than protecting our young people," Grewal said.

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