April 18--Twenty-seven people have been arrested in a three-month child-pornography investigation in New Jersey, including a Pennsauken man who was downloading images when police swarmed his home, state Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa said Tuesday.
The suspects, who lived in more than two dozen towns, nearly half in South Jersey, are charged with distribution and possession of child porn. Three remain at large and have not been identified by police.
Eleven suspects are from South Jersey municipalities, including Lindenwold, Audubon, Maple Shade, Pennsauken and Camden. The youngest is a 17-year-old Moorestown male who was not identified because he is a juvenile.
One suspect, Charles E. Jones, is the director of public works in Morristown, Morris County.
Most of the suspects have been released on their own recognizance and a handful are being held in the Camden County Jail.
"Those who thought they could hide their child porn crimes in the secrecy of their homes have been exposed by the relentless work of law enforcement working together," State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes said.
The suspects allegedly used the Internet to download or distribute the images, and detectives traced digital fingerprints as the pictures passed through cyberspace.
The first suspect, Cesar Salgado-Maya, 23, of Audubon, was arrested March 1 when authorities discovered that he was living near a day-care center on White Horse Pike. He was being held in the county jail on $52,500 bail.
Pennsauken resident William J. Brooks, 66, was running a file-sharing program on his computer with several child-porn images when a warrant was served on his home, according to officials. He is being held in the Camden County Jail on $300,000 bail.
The other South Jersey suspects: Ryan Taylor, 27, Lindenwold; Joshua Ferreri, 25, Berlin Township; Christopher Guzman, 32, Camden; Lucas F. Walsh, 24, Maple Shade; Armondo Flores, 46, Bridgeton; Collin Tillet, 29, Hamilton, Atlantic County; Bernard Cahill, 53, Folsom; and Max Mejia, 46, Atlantic City.
Contact staff writer Darran Simon at or [email protected], or follow on Twitter @darransimon.
Copyright 2012 - The Philadelphia Inquirer
