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Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office

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North Jersey Man, 65, Admits Sharing Horrific Child Sex Videos, Including One Of Girl Under 5 North Jersey Man, 65, Admits Sharing Horrific Child Sex Videos, Including One Of Girl Under 5
North Jersey Man, 65, Admits Sharing Horrific Child Sex Videos, Including One Of Girl Under 5 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A video of a girl believed to be 3 to 5 years old astride a shirtless, bearded tattooed man was among the evidence that apparently convinced a North Jersey retiree to plead guilty in federal court to trafficking child pornography, records show. The clip was among 65 videos and 250 images that Gaetano Lapegna, 65, had collected of "prepubescent children engaged in sexual acts with adults and other children," an agent with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Newark cited in a complaint. Lapegna, of Sussex County, shared many of them with what turned out to be HSI agents, the complai…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: More Than 90 Dogs, Pups Removed From NJ Home, Couple Charged 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: More Than 90 Dogs, Pups Removed From NJ Home, Couple Charged
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: More Than 90 Dogs, Pups Removed From NJ Home, Couple Charged UPDATE: The ASPCA said on Wednesday that it helped remove more than 90 adult dogs and puppies from the Sussex County home of a self-described animal rescue couple who were charged with multiple cruelty-related counts. Two dogs were found dead during a 7 a.m. raid at a Vernon Township home led by the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday, Feb. 20, authorities reported. Both Gizela Juric, who founded the Angels for Animals Network in Cliffside Park before moving it to Sussex County, and her boyfriend, Ronald Colgan, were charged with six criminal animal cruelty accounts, the American S…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Barricaded Man In NJ Motel Wounds 2 NJ State Troopers With Airsoft Gun Barricaded Man In NJ Motel Wounds 2 NJ State Troopers With Airsoft Gun
Barricaded Man In NJ Motel Wounds 2 NJ State Troopers With Airsoft Gun An armed man who wounded two New Jersey State Police troopers with an airsoft gun during a lengthy standoff at a Sussex County motel was eventually taken alive, authorities said. Troopers were conducting a welfare check at the Cobmin Ridge Motel on Route 206 in Branchville, 10 or so miles from the Pennsylvania border, around 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30, they said. Nicolas R. Martinez, 27, refused to leave a room he was staying in, according to a joint release from New Jersey State Police, the state Department of Law & Public Safety and the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office. Negotiations la…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Beloved Retired Police Officer From Bergen Dies In 'Freak Accident' In Sussex County Beloved Retired Police Officer From Bergen Dies In 'Freak Accident' In Sussex County
Beloved Retired Police Officer From Bergen Dies In 'Freak Accident' In Sussex County A retired New York City police officer with deep ties in Bergen County died in what his husband called "a freak accident" in Sussex County. John Kelly and fellow retired Tenafly Police Officer Joseph Grieco had bought a plot of land less than 100 yards from the New York State border in Glenwood, an unincorporated area within Vernon Township. They were building a new home there and had taken an apartment nearby in the meantime, those who knew them said. Vernon Township police were called to the residence around 1 a.m. last Wednesday, July 26, "for a discharge of a weapon with injuries," th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Federal Agents Seize NJ Man In Online Child Porn Probe Federal Agents Seize NJ Man In Online Child Porn Probe
Federal Agents Seize NJ Man In Online Child Porn Probe U.S. Homeland Security agents seized a Sussex County man who they said shared hundreds of child pornography videos and still images with an undercover investigator. Gaetano Lapegna, 64, was arrested after a warranted search of his Franklin home turned up two videos and 100 other images, Homeland Security Investigations' Newark Special-Agent-In-Charge Ricky J. Patel and U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said in a joint announcement. A federal magistrate judge in Newark released Lapegna, formerly of Maine, on $100,000 unsecured bond pending trial on distribution of child pornog…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
BETRAYER OF THE BADGE: NJ Officer Admits Using Authority On Duty To Pressure Women Into Sex BETRAYER OF THE BADGE: NJ Officer Admits Using Authority On Duty To Pressure Women Into Sex
Betrayer OF THE Badge: NJ Officer Admits Using Authority On Duty To Pressure Women Into Sex UPDATE: A Vernon Township police officer who was accused of groping a Bergen County woman during a domestic violence call admitted abusing his authority on duty to force women to submit to his sexual advances. Emanuel Rivera, 38, acknowledged the “imbalance of power” between him and the women he was hitting on, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Acting Sussex County Prosecutor Annmarie Taggart said in a joint statement. This left them unable to consent, he admitted, because of the “coercive, intimidating nature of such requests” coming from a uniformed police officer," the s…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Man Used TikTok To Solicit Sexual Photos From PA Girls: DA NJ Man Used TikTok To Solicit Sexual Photos From PA Girls: DA
NJ Man Used TikTok To Solicit Sexual Photos From PA Girls: DA A 26-year-old New Jersey man was arrested and found with child porn after he used social media to solicit sexually explicit photos from Pennsylvania girls, authorities said. An investigation began on April 20 when the dad of two girls, ages 11 and 12, told the Montgomery County Detective Bureau that his daughters had been solicited to send naked images via TikTok and text messages by a man later identified as Ryan Corcoran, of Andover, NJ, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said. The dad claimed he learned of the communications when one of his daughters told him t…

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by Nicole Acosta
News
Indictment Returned Against Sussex Officer Accused Of Groping Woman, Pursuing Others On Duty Indictment Returned Against Sussex Officer Accused Of Groping Woman, Pursuing Others On Duty
Indictment Returned Against Sussex Officer Accused Of Groping Woman, Pursuing Others On Duty A former Paterson police officer who’s accused of groping a Bergen County woman during a domestic call with another department is also charged with using his authority to get other women’s phone numbers, authorities said. Emanuel Rivera, 37, was a Vernon Township police officer when he met the woman while responding to a May 11, 2019 domestic violence call at her then-boyfriend’s home, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said. She told him and other responding officers that she intended to spend the night at a friend’s house but then opted to sleep in her car near there when …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Man In $1M Meth Lab Bust, Pal Put Dead Body Under NJ Family's Doghouse, Police Say Man In $1M Meth Lab Bust, Pal Put Dead Body Under NJ Family's Doghouse, Police Say
Man In $1M Meth Lab Bust, Pal Put Dead Body Under NJ Family's Doghouse, Police Say Two Sussex County ex-cons have been accused of relocating human remains found in a Hopatcong home to a doghouse underneath a deck, authorities said. Brian Cheda-Hackembruch, 25, of Andover Township (who you may remember from his involvement in a $1 million meth lab raid), and Matthew R. Thomas, 27, of Newton had found the body of an individual who died of a medical emergency in a Hopatcong home, Andover Township police said. Instead of notifying officials, the pair loaded the victim into the trunk of his or her own vehicle, then hired a towing company to move the car to a street near West L…

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by Valerie Musson
News
No Charges For Jersey Shore Man Who Posted Facebook Threats Against Sparta Schools No Charges For Jersey Shore Man Who Posted Facebook Threats Against Sparta Schools
No Charges For Jersey Shore Man Who Posted Facebook Threats Against Sparta Schools A Jersey Shore man accused of posting threats toward Sparta school officials on social media will not face criminal charges, authorities said. The Wall Township man shared a message Friday calling for people to "knock down the doors of the BOE members and union leaders" if Sparta schools aren’t fully reopened soon, DailyRecord reports citing Police Lt. John Lamon. A follow-up investigation of the alleged threats determined that the man was “just venting,” the report says. "The detective bureau followed up and made contact with him," Lamon told the outlet. "The guy said 'I'm not looking to …

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Attempted Murder Charges For Elderly Sussex County Man Who Fired Handgun At Police, Drove Away Attempted Murder Charges For Elderly Sussex County Man Who Fired Handgun At Police, Drove Away
Attempted Murder Charges For Elderly Sussex County Man Who Fired Handgun At Police, Drove Away The elderly man who fired two rounds at officers from a Sussex County parking garage has been charged with attempted murder, Newton Police said. Edwin Greene, 80, called officers from the parking garage under the Newton Town Centre complex stating that he had a gun and was suicidal around 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 25, police said. A temporary lockdown was put into place when Greene fired two rounds from a .22 caliber handgun and drove away, dodging officers’ attempts to block the area, authorities said. Greene was later found outside Newton Medical Center and subdued with physical force, police sa…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
KNOW HIM? Police Seek ID For Man Found Dead In North Jersey State Forest KNOW HIM? Police Seek ID For Man Found Dead In North Jersey State Forest
Know HIM? Police Seek ID For Man Found Dead In North Jersey State Forest Police are seeking the public’s help identifying the man whose body was found in a North Jersey state forest.  A hunter found the body Dec. 8 in a wooded patch in Stokes State Forest approximately 300 yards off of Tower Trail in Sandyston Township, Sussex County, State Police said. The man has a light complexion and is estimated to be between 20 and 40 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall and 171 pounds, police said. He has a large scar on his right knee as well as several tattoos, pictured above using graphics created by the New Jersey State Police Forensic Imaging Unit. The man was …

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Army Soldier, Teen Boy Charged In Sussex County Killing Of 20-Year-Old Corporal Hayden Harris Army Soldier, Teen Boy Charged In Sussex County Killing Of 20-Year-Old Corporal Hayden Harris
Army Soldier, Teen Boy Charged In Sussex County Killing Of 20-Year-Old Corporal Hayden Harris A 23-year-old Fort Drum soldier and 16-year-old boy are facing murder and kidnapping charges in the Sussex County killing of 20-year-old U.S. Army Cpl. Hayden Harris. Pvt. Jamaal Mellish, 23, and the unidentified teen were arrested earlier this month after Harris' body was found buried in snow, in a wooded area off Ross Road in Byram Dec. 19, authorities in Sussex County previously said. Mellish, of Brooklyn, was charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, handgun possession, suppression of evidence and more, the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office announced Monday. The teen was charged wi…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
NJ Police Officer Who Shot Loose Dog Accused Of Sex Crime Against Domestic Assault Victim NJ Police Officer Who Shot Loose Dog Accused Of Sex Crime Against Domestic Assault Victim
NJ Police Officer Who Shot Loose Dog Accused Of Sex Crime Against Domestic Assault Victim Authorities have charged a North Jersey police officer with illegally touching a woman while responding to domestic violence call.  Vernon Township Officer Emanuel Rivera was responding to an early-morning incident on May 11, 2019, when he tracked down a female subject who was asked to leave the house and "engaged in illegal sexual contact through coercive means," Sussex County Prosecutor Francis A. Koch said Thursday. Rivera, 36, who was accused of shooting a loose dog last year, is charged with fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, the prosecutor said. A former six-y…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Sparta Man Gets 5 Years For Role In Morris, Sussex, Bergen Coke/Pot Ring Sparta Man Gets 5 Years For Role In Morris, Sussex, Bergen Coke/Pot Ring
Sparta Man Gets 5 Years For Role In Morris, Sussex, Bergen Coke/Pot Ring A Sparta man must spend the next two years in state prison before he’ll be eligible for parole for his role in a drug distribution ring. A judge in Morristown on Friday sentenced Samuel J. Rozynski to five years, with the two-year parole ineligibility requirement, for his March 2 guilty plea to having cocaine and pot for sale, money laundering and conspiracy. Rozynski also forfeited what authorities said was $329,000 drug proceeds seized from him during simultaneous raids in Sparta, Cliffside Park and Parsippany this past Jan. 29. SEE: Pair Busted With Coke, Pot, Guns In Morris, Sussex, Be…

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by Jerry DeMarco