Westwood Man Among 79 Charged In Child Porn Bust

WESTWOOD, NJ — A borough man, two teenagers and others from the county were arrested as part of a massive nine-month statewide sweep targeting suspected child predators and child pornography offenders called Operation Safety Net, authorities announced.

James Agin, 69, of Westwood was one of the dozens of people charged with distribution of child pornography

One of the teens, a 17-year-old student, was arrested Aug. 17 after authorities found more than 1,000 files of suspected child pornography on his electronic devices, state Attorney General Christopher Porrino said in a news release.

The student had videos he allegedly made by hiding his smartphone in a private bathroom to record underage boys nude or while they were showering or urinating, Porrino said.

The teen was one of eight people arrested for various types of "hands-on" conduct, including sexual assault, luring a child and other charges.

Forty-one other defendants, including a 14-year-old, and men from Hackensack, Paramus, Lyndhurst and Garfield, who were charged with second-degree distribution of child pornography.

Those arrested from Bergen County were:

• Christopher Todd, 49, of Lyndhurst
• Zachary Brawer, 31, of Paramus
• Alexis Gonzalez, 28, of Hackensack
• Michael Yosco, 70, of Garfield

Those arrested in Operation Safety Net included child predators in California and Indiana who allegedly tried to have children transported interstate from New Jersey by adult traffickers so they could have sex with the children, Porrino said.

Others arrested included four men in New Jersey who allegedly sought to lure children for sex, a camp counselor who allegedly sexually assaulted a girl, 14, under his supervision, a youth minister who allegedly sent lewd photos of himself to a young girl and a man, 24, who allegedly used a phone app to record underage girls performing sex acts on themselves, Porrino said.

Authorities made use of two new tools available to them during Operation Safety Net: A law enforcement dog trained to detect electronic devices and a mobile forensics van.

Electronic devices are becoming smaller and made to look like everyday objects, including cuff links, bracelets and coins. The dogs were used at locations to find such devices that were not kept in plain sight where police executed search warrants.

“The men we arrested lurked in the shadows of the internet and social media, looking for opportunities to sexually assault young children or to view such unspeakable assaults by sharing child pornography,” said Porrino. “We set up a wide safety net in this operation to snare these alleged predators and to protect children, which remains our highest priority."

Email daniel.hubbard@patch.com. Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.

Photo: James Agin, 69, of Westwood one of the dozens of people arrested as part of Operation Safety Net./Courtesy of state Attorney General's Office