Teen Faces Child Porn Charges In Ocean County

TOMS RIVER, NJ — An 18-year-old from Toms River has been charged with distributing child sexual abuse material, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Joseph R. Roach was arrested Tuesday after an investigation that started with a referral from New Jersey State Police, the prosecutor's office said.

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The state police internet crimes task force received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an individual was sending/receiving images of child sexual abuse material from the internet.

The investigation identified an IP address associated with a Toms River Township home as the location from which the individual was accessing images of child pornography from the internet. The individual was ultimately identified as Roach, the prosecutor's office said.

Authorities seized Roach's cell phone during a court-authorized search of his home, and a forensic examination of the phone showed he had been using a WhatsApp account to send child sexual abuse material to another WhatsApp account.

Those images were also located on Roach's cell phone, authorities said.

Roach has been charged with distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material. He is being held at the Ocean County Jail in Toms River pending a detention hearing.