Mailman, Train Conductor Among 31 Charged In Sex Offender Sting

NEW JERSEY — Thirty one men across New Jersey and Pennsylvania — among them a New York City subway operator, a U.S. postal carrier, a retired Hudson County corrections officer and a man who worked at a skating rink — were arrested and charged with sexually exploiting children online.

The 31 arrests were announced Wednesday; they are the result of a months-long Internet sweep led by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and State Police.

The investigation was called "Operation 24/7,” and it was launched by the AG's office in response to a continued spike in children being approached or groomed by online predators during the COVID pandemic, a period when screen time and device time skyrocketed for American children and teens.

For example, for the first six months of 2021, the New Jersey Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received 3,324 tips about online predators or questionable behavior online. That is 39 percent higher than the total of 2,393 tips for the entire year in 2019, and on pace to exceed the total of 6,130 tips for all of 2020, which included 10 months of the COVID pandemic.

“With young people continuing to spend more time on their electronic devices due to the COVID pandemic, we must remain vigilant," said AG Grewal.

"Operation 24/7" ran for three months, from April 1 to June 30 of this year. The men arrested range in age from 18 to 65.

As part of the investigation, law enforcement monitored these apps: Kik, Skout, Grindr, Whisper, Omegle, Tinder, Chat Avenue, Chat Roulette, Wishbone, Live.ly, Musical.ly, Paltalk, Yubo, Hot or Not, Down, and Tumblr. In the pasts, arrests have also been made involving the gaming apps Fortnite, Minecraft and Discord.

The majority of the men, 27 in total, were charged with possession and/or distribution of child sexual abuse materials, including, in many cases, child rape videos.

Attorney General Grewal urged parents to familiarize themselves with these and other apps and warn their children about sharing information with strangers they talk to online. Parents should also look for signs that their child is being abused online, such as increased time online, becoming secretive with the phone or computer, becoming withdrawn and sudden outbursts of crying or anger.

All 31 men arrested in “Operation 24/7” are named and charged as follows:

1. Ryan Olson, 20, of Williamstown, N.J. Student and employee of online retailer. Arrested June 29. Charged with Manufacturing Child Sexual Abuse Material (1st degree), Sharing Obscene Material with Minor (3rd degree), Impairing or Debauching the Morals of a Child (3rd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree). State Police say Olson solicited underage girls online to send him sexually explicit photos of themselves.

Olson allegedly asked underage victims to play a “game” on social media in which he offered prizes and money in exchange for sexually explicit material, with more explicit photos and videos of the victims earning more points. One 15-year-old victim allegedly sent Olson a sexually explicit video of herself. He allegedly responded by sending her a sexually explicit photo of himself. The investigation began with a referral from a victim in the United Kingdom.

1. Ndachi Ndungu, 25, of Jersey City, N.J. Temporary Employee. Arrested May 28. Charged with Attempted Manufacturing Child Pornography (2nd degree), Attempted Theft by Extortion (2nd degree). Ndungu allegedly attempted to extort a 12-year-old girl he encountered on the gaming app Discord to send him sexually explicit photos of herself. Further investigation by the New Jersey State Police and Division of Criminal Justice revealed that Ndungu allegedly chatted with numerous other potential victims between the ages of 7 and 15 on the app Discord.

Ndungu allegedly used the same method with victims. He allegedly would obtain an image of the child and then threaten to share it on social media or threaten to report the victim to Discord. He allegedly would threaten the children until they agreed to send more explicit photos.

1. Robert Reinhart, 52, of Telford, Pa. Construction Employee. Arrested April 1. Charged with Luring (2nd degree), Attempted Sexual Assault (2nd degree), Attempted Human Trafficking (2nd degree). Reinhart was arrested by the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office for allegedly offering to pay $300 to have sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl. During the investigation, Reinhart allegedly communicated via text messages with undercover detectives posing as the adult sister of the girl. The girl did not actually exist. Reinhart was arrested on April 1 after he traveled to West Deptford, N.J., allegedly to meet the 14-year-old girl.
2. Samuel Santiago, 54, of Carteret, N.J. Retired Hudson County corrections officer. Arrested June 30. Charged with Impairing or Debauching the Morals of a Child (3rd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree), Criminal Sexual Contact (4th degree). Santiago is charged with molesting an underage girl and possession of child sexual abuse material. He allegedly assaulted the victim by touching her genitals both over and under her clothing. After Santiago was arrested, investigators discovered that he allegedly had numerous videos of child sexual abuse material on his cell phone.
3. Peter Eskow, 45, of Perth Amboy, N.J. Technology manager. Arrested June 24. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree, over 1,000 items). Eskow allegedly possessed more than 80,000 files of child sexual abuse material on an external hard drive.
4. George Oakes, 57, of Belvidere, N.J. Construction employee. Arrested April 14. Manufacturing Child Sexual Abuse Material (1st degree—allegedly took photos with cell phone of child sexual abuse material on his computer), Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
5. Johnathan Valencia, 36, of Wayne, N.J. Restaurant manager. Arrested May 4. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
6. Justin Holtz, 20, of Southampton, N.J. Farm worker. Arrested June 4. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
7. Jonathan Dunston, 53, of Pemberton, N.J. Truck stop employee. Arrested June 4. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
8. Eugene Kim, 20, of Evesham, N.J. Student. Arrested April 16. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
9. Joshua Gamboa, 20, of Bellmawr, N.J. Unemployed/U.S. Army Reserve. Arrested April 20. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
10. Matthew Porch, 19, of Cherry Hill, N.J. Student and HVAC technician. Arrested April 23. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
11. Sean McMichael, 38, of Cherry Hill, N.J. Employment unknown. Arrested May 21. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
12. Fabian Cervantes, 18, of West Orange, N.J. Student and restaurant employee. Arrested May 19. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
13. Joshua Hunt, 28, of Paulsboro, N.J. Employment unknown. Arrested April 30. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
14. Brian Lusardi, 48, of Glendora, N.J. Skating rink employee. Arrested April 15. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
15. Ryan Becker, 32, of South Amboy, N.J. Warehouse worker. Arrested June 30. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree), Tampering with Evidence (4th degree).
16. Derrick J. Anannab, 39, of Holmdel, N.J. Medical assistant. Arrested June 17. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
17. Luis Torres-Mendieta, 31, of Neptune City, N.J. Restaurant employee. Arrested May 27. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
18. Carl Aliwalas, 29, of Neptune Township, N.J. Restaurant employee. Arrested May 14. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
19. John Coluzzi, 22, of Manalapan, N.J. Train operator for NYC Transit (The state originally incorrectly identified him as working for NJ Transit). Arrested May 5. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
20. Adam Cohen, 45, of Oxford, N.J. Unemployed. Arrested on June 30. Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
21. Garrett Flynn, 22, of Washington Borough (Warren County), N.J. Retail Associate. Arrested June 23. Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (2nd degree, over 1,000 items).
22. Keith Rodenbach, 55, of Mays Landing, N.J. Unemployed. Arrested May 26. Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
23. Phong Nguyen, 44, of Pennsauken, N.J. Nail technician. Arrested April 14. Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
24. Gordon Strater, 55, of Blackwood, N.J. U.S. Postal Service carrier. Arrested May 12. Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
25. Hau Tran, 47, of Pennsauken, N.J. Unemployed. Arrested May 21. Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
26. James Camille, 65, of Cherry Hill, N.J. Employment unknown. Arrested June 30. Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
27. Eugenio Dalessandro, 52, of Woolwich, N.J. Unemployed. Arrested May 11. Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
28. Edward Robles, 34, of Sewell, N.J. Employment unknown. Arrested May 3. Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).
29. Franco Grasparil, 21, of Sayreville, N.J. Student. Arrested April 28. Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (3rd degree).

“Children should be safe, particularly in the sanctity of their homes. Sadly, since the start of the pandemic, predators have used the internet to invade our homes and put our children at risk,’’ said Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II.

“These insidious offenses are too easily masked or hidden in the recesses of the internet and apps on our children’s phones," said Acting Camden County Prosecutor Jill Mayer.

"Parents can join the fight by talking to their children about the dangers of online predators and closely monitoring their online activity," said New Jersey State Police Colonel Patrick Callahan.

Editor's note: The NJ Attorney General's office originally said Coluzzi worked for NJ Transit. This is not correct.

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