Child-porn crackdown yields 27 arrests in N.J.

A three-month child-pornography investigation has led to the arrests of 27 people across New Jersey, including a 66-year-old Pennsauken man who was downloading images when police swarmed his home, state Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced Tuesday.

The investigation, dubbed "Operation Watchdog," culminated over several days last week with a police sweep in more than two dozen towns, nearly half of them in South Jersey.

The suspects, including a 20-year-old woman, have been charged with distribution and possession of child pornography. Three more remain at large and have not been identified by police.

Twelve suspects are from towns in South Jersey, including Lindenwold, Audubon, Maple Shade, Pennsauken, and Camden. The youngest is a 17-year-old Moorestown male who was not named because he is a juvenile.

Another suspect, Charles E. Jones, 50, is the director of public works in Morristown, authorities said.

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 in a news release.

The suspects allegedly used the Internet to download or distribute the images, such as using peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.

"There is a large library of images and videos known to law enforcement. These pictures are able to be traced in a number of ways, including their digital fingerprint, as they're passed through cyberspace," according to the statement.

"The vulnerable children who are tortured and degraded to create these vile materials are victimized every time another person views these images," Chiesa said in the news release.

The first suspect to be arrested, Cesar Salgado-Maya, 23, of Audubon, was taken into custody March 1 when authorities discovered that he was living in a home near a children's day-care center on the 200 block of the South White Horse Pike.

He is being held in the Camden County Jail on $52,500 bail.

Pennsauken resident William J. Brooks was running a file-sharing program on his computer with several child-porn images when a warrant was served on his home April 10, according to officials. He was being held in the Camden County Jail on $300,000 bail.

Bernard Cahill, 53, of Folsom, Atlantic County, allegedly took photos while sexually assaulting a juvenile. Police said they discovered the images when they searched his home. Cahill has also been charged with sexual assault and manufacturing child pornography.

He was being held in the Camden County Jail on $150,000.

The investigation, coordinated by the state police's Digital Technology Investigations Unit, involved more than 100 state troopers and officers from 21 law enforcement agencies.

Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI assisted in the investigation and execution of warrants.

The other suspects from South Jersey are: Ryan Taylor, 27, of Lindenwold; Joshua Ferreri, 25, of Berlin Township; Christopher Guzman, 32, of Camden; Lucas F. Walsh, 24, of Maple Shade; Armondo Flores, 46, of Bridgeton City, Cumberland County; Collin Tillet, 29, of Hamilton, Atlantic County; Max Mejia, 46, of Atlantic City; and John Mulligan, 41, of Ocean City.

Ferreri's attorney did not return a call for comment. It was not known if the other South Jersey suspects also had attorneys. Phone numbers could not be immediately found for some of the local area suspects who have been released from jail.

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