A multi-agency task force has arrested 79 alleged child predators in New Jersey.
Two new things helped uncover the evidence.
For the first time, a new mobile forensics lab was deployed to assist authorities who executed search warrants at suspects’ homes.
Lt. Jon Powers is the supervisor of the cybercrime unit.
“There’s a lot of sensitive electronics, very expensive devices. Being able to keep them inside our own controlled facility makes everything that much better for us. It also expedites the discovery of the evidence that we might be looking for”
State Police Sergeant Timothy Neville says a new canine trained to sniff out a chemical compound used in many electronic devices helped authorities find devices child predators tried to hide.
“Sometimes they could be inside of a chair hollowed out inside of a stool, underneath ovens, stoves, couches.”
New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino says yhe suspects, ranging in age from 14 to 75, are accused of possessing or distributing large collections of child pornography depicting sexual assaults on young boys and girls.
“These are wicked vile materials produced by torturing kids. Viewing child pornography in this way is part of a t continuum of deviant behavior that often leads to other sex crimes.”
Among those charged are a Trenton police officer, a camp counselor in Bayonne, a swim coach from Hazlet, and a youth minister in Hopatcong.