BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A Berkeley Township man was arrested Thursday and charged with distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced the charges against Robert Shea II on Oct. 23. Shea is being held in the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The investigation began when the New Jersey State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received a cyber-tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, authorities said. The tip concerned child sexual abuse material that was allegedly shared through a Snapchat account, and the task force referred the matter to the prosecutor’s office.
Investigators from the prosecutor’s office’s High Tech Crime Squad and the Berkeley Township Police Department linked the account activity to IP addresses connected to a home in Berkeley Township and an office building in Toms River, according to the prosecutor’s office.
On Oct. 22, investigators carried out court-authorized search warrants at both locations, authorities said. A preliminary forensic review of several cellphones belonging to Shea allegedly turned up numerous images of child sexual abuse material, and a device at the Toms River office allegedly had the Snapchat application that was used to share the material, the prosecutor’s office said.
Shea was taken into custody at Berkeley Township Police Headquarters before being moved to the county jail.
Billhimer credited the High Tech Crime Squad, the Berkeley Township Police Department, the State Police task force and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for their work on the case.
The release did not list Shea’s age or say whether he has an attorney.
The charges are accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
This report is based on information from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
Source: Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office press release
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