Mugshots: Princeton admin, banker among 15 arrested in New Jersey child porn sting
FREEHOLD, New Jersey (WABC) -- An extensive child pornography sweep has netted 15 arrests in New Jersey, including a Princeton University administrator and a bank executive.
Monmouth County prosecutors say "Operation Trading Post" lasted from June through October of this year, with two arrests taking place in November.
The suspects -- 14 men and a juvenile boy -- are all charged with child endangerment
Prosecutors say most of the defendants are accused of uploading child porn to different social media and file-sharing platforms, but they say one man was chatting online with an undercover agent he believed was a teenage boy.
William McMahon, 64, of Keansburg, is also charged with luring and attempted sexual assault.
A Princeton spokesman said the staffer, 61-year-old Gregory Cantrell, of Freehold, has been placed on administrative leave.
The following individuals were arrested as a result of Operation Trading Post, according to a press release:
--Jonathan Henry, 22, of Keyport, who was employed as a dishwasher at The Turning Point, was arrested on June 19, 2018, after an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which revealed he uploaded child pornography to Twitter and Dropbox.
--Michael Balbosa, 34, of Neptune City, a courier with Federal Express, was arrested on June 29, 2018, following an investigation that revealed that he used Peer-to-Peer file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online.
--Anthony Johnson, 38, of Neptune Township, who is unemployed, was arrested on July 10, 2018, after an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which revealed he uploaded child pornography to Dropbox.
--Rene Torres, 48, of Howell Township, who works in Operations for ING Financial Markets, was arrested on July 18, 2018, after an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which revealed he uploaded child pornography to Flikr.
--A juvenile, of Holmdel, was arrested on July 25, 2018, following an investigation that revealed that he used Peer-to-Peer file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online.
--Brian Foley, 60, of Atlantic Highlands, an Information Technology Specialist with Cerner Corporation and former member of the Environmental Commission in Atlantic Highlands, was arrested on July 26, 2018, after an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which revealed he uploaded child pornography to the website, Motherless.
--Alexander Ecock, 22, of Freehold, was arrested on July 31, 2018, following an investigation that revealed that he used Peer-to-Peer file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online.
--William McMahon, 64, of Keansburg, a deli worker at Acme Markets, was arrested on August 3, 2018, following an investigation involving an undercover chat on Doublelist.com. McMahon believed he was chatting with and made plans to meet a 14-year-old boy.
--Thiago Thebald-Simas, 24, of Long Branch, who is unemployed, was arrested on August 24, 2018, following an investigation that revealed that he used Peer-to-Peer file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online.
--David Wu, 32, of Hazlet, a logistics specialist with Vanguard, was arrested on August 29, 2018, following an investigation that revealed that he used Peer-to-Peer file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online.
--Joshua Valerio, 37, of Eatontown, a laborer at Love, Inc., was arrested on September 20, 2018, after an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which revealed he uploaded child pornography to Gmail.
--Fady Elghazaly, 33, of Marlboro, a mechanic with United Airlines, was arrested on September 26, 2018, following an investigation that revealed that he used Peer-to-Peer file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online.
--Ronald Paul, 56, of Freehold, was arrested on October 18, 2018, after an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which revealed he uploaded child pornography to Tumblr.
--Ryan Marques, 18, of Howell, a student, was arrested on November 19, 2018, and was the subject of an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which revealed he uploaded child pornography to Dropbox.
--Gregory Cantrell, 61, of Freehold, an employee of Princeton University, was arrested on November 5, 2018, after an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which revealed he uploaded child pornography to Bing Image.
All the defendants were released on the conditions that they have no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18 and not use the internet. McMahon remains incarcerated pending trial.
If convicted of the second-degree endangering, attempted sexual assault or luring charges, a defendant will face a maximum sentence of 10 years in New Jersey state prison, Megan's Law, and parole supervision for life.
If convicted of the third-degree endangering charge, a defendant will face a maximum sentence of five years in state prison and parole supervision for life.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report)
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