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Ndachi I. Ndungu, 25, was among 31 men charged in a three-month roundup of accused predators, pedophiles and perverts after investigators learned that he'd tried to extort a 12-year-old girl into sending him nude photos of herself, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said.
Further investigation by New Jersey State Police and state Division of Criminal Justice detectives found that Ndungu also chatted on Discord with several other potential victims between the ages of 7 and 15, Bruck said.
He obtained sexual images from them that he then threatened to share on social media or report to Discord if they didn't send him more, the attorney general said.
“With the prevalence of online communications in today’s life, protecting children online is paramount,” Bruck said.
“We are sending a message to sex offenders that if you threaten or exploit children, we will find you and hold you accountable,” added state Division of Criminal Justice Director Lyndsay V. Ruotolo.
Deputy Attorney General Jamie Picard secured the indictment charging Ndungu with attempted manufacture of child sexual exploitative material, theft by extortion and cyber-harassment, Bruck said.
Ndungu, who'd worked as a temp, was among dozens charged with sexually exploiting children online in “Operation 24/7,” a collaborative investigation prompted by a spike in reports of potential online predators during the COVID pandemic.
These included a mail carrier, a train conductor and a retired corrections officer, one of whom offered money and other prizes through a social media “game” that he created to convince underage girls to send him nude photos, authorities charged.
Another was busted by undercover detectives after he offered $300 to have sexual intercourse with what he thought would be a 14-year-old girl, they said.
SEE: Horror Stories Abound In NJ Online Child-Sex Abuse Roundup
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