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The man served as deacon of St. John's Roman Catholic Church in Lakehurst, they said.
Anthony Laterza of Berkeley Township has been charged with three counts of possession of child pornography, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.
An investigation was initiated by a referral from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, through the New Jersey State Police, which identified a suspect from Berkeley Township downloading images of child pornography, Billhimer said.
On Thursday, detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and Berkeley Township Police Department conducted a warranted search warrant on Laterza’s residence in Berkeley Township, the prosecutor said.
Electronic devices were seized from the home, Billhimer said, and a forensic review of those devices revealed apparent images of child pornography.
Laterza was processed at Berkeley Township Police Headquarters, and was being held in the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.
“It is our understanding that this defendant serves a Deacon at a church in Lakehurst, as such we have made appropriate notifications,” Billhimer said in a press statement.
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