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Michael J. Chiuchiolo Jr. of Riverdale “communicated with the child for several weeks” before her mother discovered the texts, which purported to be from a man in his late teens, Passaic County Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik said.
After being contacted by the mother, sheriff’s detectives found that Chiuchiolo originally connected with the girl online through a live video streaming website, Berdnik said.
During an exchange of text messages, he “provided the child with a list of handwritten rules that she had to obey when communicating with him,” the sheriff said.
Chiuchiolo – who works for Mircom in Cedar Grove -- then “engaged the child in sexually explicit text messages and also sent her a gift that was mailed to her,” he said.
Detectives from Berdnik’s office and the Morris County Prosecutor's Office armed with a search warrant raided Chiuchiolo’s home and arrested him on Monday, while seizing several items.
The items “will be forensically examined for additional evidence related to the investigation,” the sheriff said.
Chiuchiolo remained held in the Passaic County Jail, charged with attempted aggravated sexual assault of a minor and child endangerment, among other counts.
“The head injury in the mugshot had nothing to do with this incident,” Berdnik noted.
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MAJOR TRAFFIC ALERT (PLEASE SHARE): A gaping hole on westbound Route 80 in Woodland Park jammed traffic all the way to the George Washington Bridge. Repairs are expected to keep as many as THREE lanes closed all night.
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