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Online Safety

Police & Fire
SOCIAL MEDIA SCAM: Bogus Post About Unidentified Girl Found By Side Of Road Returns SOCIAL MEDIA SCAM: Bogus Post About Unidentified Girl Found By Side Of Road Returns
Social Media Scam: Bogus Post About Unidentified Girl Found By Side Of Road Returns A cruel social media post about an unidentified girl in a hospital bed who was stabbed, robbed and “left for dead on the side of the road” in your town or one nearby has re-emerged. Whatever you do, don't share it. The post has appeared in several states – and recently in one of New Jersey’s most affluent towns – showing what, in reality, is a severely injured girl in a hospital bed following a car crash in 2016 in Utah. Taylor Carlton, who was 16 at the time, eventually emerged from a coma and has long since recovered. She became a mom in 2018, according to her sister. However, a r…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Allentown Pediatrician Sent Sexual Messages To NJ Girl He Met Online: Prosecutor Allentown Pediatrician Sent Sexual Messages To NJ Girl He Met Online: Prosecutor
Allentown Pediatrician Sent Sexual Messages To NJ Girl He Met Online: Prosecutor A 47-year-old Lehigh Valley pediatrician is accused of sending sexual massages to a New Jersey high school student he met online, authorities said. Moshe Markowitz, of Allentown, met the girl — a student at Warren Hills Regional High School — on chat site Omegle, but continued the conversation with her on Discord last January, Warren County Prosecutor James L. Pfeiffer said. The alleged incident was reported by the victim's friend, authorities said. Using the alias "Steven Jones," Markowitz engaged in sexually explicit conversations with the girl, Pfeiffer said. A search of his Main Stree…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Andrew Bucklandon Is NOT Missing: Here's How Social Scammers Get You Andrew Bucklandon Is NOT Missing: Here's How Social Scammers Get You
Andrew Bucklandon Is NOT Missing: Here's How Social Scammers Get You A boy named Andrew Bucklandon hasn't gone missing. He didn't leave for school and not return. He doesn't even exist. For those who've seen -- or, worse, shared -- the Facebook post about a purportedly missing boy the past couple of days, here are a few questions: Does the post include a town? A link? Contact details? It doesn't. Because it's bogus. Like any good phishing scam, the missing boy ploy tugs at the heartstrings and plays on the fears of those who want to help. They're actually helping the scammers find more victims. Phishers threw their latest line into social media waters on…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
This NJ Town Has Special Parking Lot For Meeting 'Internet Weirdos' This NJ Town Has Special Parking Lot For Meeting 'Internet Weirdos'
This NJ Town Has Special Parking Lot For Meeting 'Internet Weirdos' Whether you're picking up an item you bought on Facebook Marketplace or heading out for a bike ride with someone you connected with online, officials in one New Jersey town have created a safe place for you to do so. Surveillance cameras are running 24/7 and police officers are just a shout away at this parking lot in Mansfield Township. "Don’t meet internet weirdos in some shady parking lot," Mansfield Township police said. "Instead, come to MTPD’s parking lot at 100 Port Murray Road Port Murray, NJ and make your exchanges here." The lot was apparently donated by OfferUp, according to the…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Central Jersey Man Sexually Assaulted Girl, 12, He Met Online: Prosecutor Central Jersey Man Sexually Assaulted Girl, 12, He Met Online: Prosecutor
Central Jersey Man Sexually Assaulted Girl, 12, He Met Online: Prosecutor A 20-year-old Somerset County man was arrested for sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl he met online, authorities said. The victim on July 26 told police she met an unknown male, later identified as Lenic S. Galvin, of Bound Brook, on social media before he arranged for the victim to be brought to his home, where he sexually assaulted her, Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald said. Galvin was arrested the following day on charges of aggravated sexual assault and more. He was lodged in the Somerset County Jail pending a detention hearing. Anyone with information relating …

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by Cecilia Levine
News
FBI: ‘Sextortion’ Of Teen Boys Is Increasing, Here's What Parents, Guardians Should Know FBI: ‘Sextortion’ Of Teen Boys Is Increasing, Here's What Parents, Guardians Should Know
FBI: ‘Sextortion’ Of Teen Boys Is Increasing, Here's What Parents, Guardians Should Know Reports of adults ‘sextorting’ teenage boys into sending them sexual videos or photos online are booming, particularly involving victims 14 to 17 years old, the FBI warns. In 2021 alone, its Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 18,000 sextortion-related complaints of various types, the bureau announced on Wednesday, April 13. A growing number involved late-teen boys targeted by predators posing as someone else, federal authorities said. It ordinarily begins with a contact through social media or on a gaming site. The adult predator or scammer "convinces the child to s…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Attorney General Co-Leads National Probe Into Whether TikTok Harms Kids, Teens, Young Adults NJ Attorney General Co-Leads National Probe Into Whether TikTok Harms Kids, Teens, Young Adults
NJ Attorney General Co-Leads National Probe Into Whether TikTok Harms Kids, Teens, Young Adults New Jersey law enforcers are co-leading a multi-state investigation into whether TikTok puts youngsters at physical and emotional risk, Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced. The probe centers on what Platkin called techniques used by TikTok to "increase both the frequency and duration of engagement by young users – children, teenagers and young adults – and on the potential harms that may result from such engagement." It will also explore "what TikTok knows about such harms," the attorney said in announcing the endeavor on Wednesday, March 2. A coalition of attorneys genera…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Jersey Shore Wrestling Champ Arrested By FBI On Child Porn Charges Jersey Shore Wrestling Champ Arrested By FBI On Child Porn Charges
Jersey Shore Wrestling Champ Arrested By FBI On Child Porn Charges A New Jersey state wrestling champion and coach who made national headlines when he revealed that he’s gay was arrested by the FBI Wednesday on child porn charges, federal authorities said. Alec Donovan, 24, of Brick Township also used an app to “solicit and engage in conversations with minors, including requesting nude photographs from the minors and sending nude photographs to them,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Donovan, who records show has coached at the Shorething Wrestling Club in Lakewood, “sent three videos containing images of child sexual abuse and received two vide…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Hookup Turns To Robbery After Leonia Man Is Drugged By Online 'Date' Hookup Turns To Robbery After Leonia Man Is Drugged By Online 'Date'
Hookup Turns To Robbery After Leonia Man Is Drugged By Online 'Date' A Leonia man was set up by a woman who met him online, drugged him at his home and then robbed him with help from two other men, authorities said. Katherine Berg, 32, of Paterson went to the victim’s Grand Avenue home in the early morning hours of June 26 and slipped him a drug that knocked him out, Police Chief Scott Tamagny said. A medical call brought police around 11 a.m. the next day, the chief said. A family member had found the 30-something victim with “numerous injuries and no memory of what had occurred,” Tamagny said. More than 24 hours had passed and the victim was immediately…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! NJ Citizens Posing As Minors Bust Men Trying To Lure Boys Online, Police Say GOTCHA! NJ Citizens Posing As Minors Bust Men Trying To Lure Boys Online, Police Say
Gotcha! NJ Citizens Posing As Minors Bust Men Trying To Lure Boys Online, Police Say Men from Atlantic City, NJ and Chester County, PA were busted by concerned citizens posing as minors trying to lure boys online, authorities said Tuesday. The concerned citizens posed as underage children on various social media sites and confronted the two men before notifying local law enforcement, ACPD spokesman Lt. Kevin Fair said. Officers on Saturday responded to the 2400 block of Formicas Way on a report that Robert Catalano, 58, of Atlantic City attempted to lure a child to engage in sexual contact, Fair said. The concerned citizens provided officers with screen shots and detailed …

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by Jon Craig
News
TO CATCH A PREDATOR: Civilian Exposes NJ Man By Posing As Girl, 14 TO CATCH A PREDATOR: Civilian Exposes NJ Man By Posing As Girl, 14
TO Catch A Predator: Civilian Exposes NJ Man By Posing As Girl, 14 A Tenafly man was arrested after a vigilante who publicly exposes child predators lured him to the Bronx for what he thought would be a hook-up with a 14-year-old girl, authorities said. A video posted on YouTube shows the unidentified vigilante confronting Jonathan Soto, 28, in a parked minivan. “What’s your mother gonna say about this?” the man asks during a nearly 15-minute conversation peppered with profanity and sexual descriptions. WARNING: The video contains profanity and descriptions of sexual situations. Authorities obtained search warrants after intensely investigating the auth…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
SURPRISE! NYC Man Sent Penis Pics, Drove To NJ Motel For Sex With Underage 'Girl,' Feds Charge SURPRISE! NYC Man Sent Penis Pics, Drove To NJ Motel For Sex With Underage 'Girl,' Feds Charge
Surprise! NYC Man Sent Penis Pics, Drove To NJ Motel For Sex With Underage 'Girl,' Feds Charge Federal agents arrested a Bronx man who they said drove nearly 75 miles Wednesday to a South Jersey motel for what he thought would be sex with a 13-year-old girl after sending “her” penis pics. Eduardo Silva, 42, didn’t know that he’d actually been texting and chatting online with an undercover federal agent and not an underage girl, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito. Silva asked whether the purported minor was “into older guys” while “discussing his intent to travel and engage in sexual activity” after reaching out on a social media app, Carpenito said. “He also sent sexually explicit images…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Man Injured When Backhoe Knocks Lamppost Into Hackensack Law Office Window Man Injured When Backhoe Knocks Lamppost Into Hackensack Law Office Window
Man Injured When Backhoe Knocks Lamppost Into Hackensack Law Office Window A Cliffside Park man was injured in a freak accident Monday at a Hackensack law firm, authorities said. A private company bucket loader was doing sewer work and backed into a decorative light post, knocking it into a window at Harwood Lloyd LLC on Main Street, responders said. A shard of glass from the broken window hit the 31-year-old victim, who required treatment for a cut on his hand. Police were investigating. ****** ALSO SEE: A 28-year-old Guatemalan national living in Hackensack was caught having online sex chats with an underage Englewood girl, authorities said. https://dailyvo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Police: Somerset County Man Goes To Michigan For Motel Sex With Girl, 14, He Met Online Police: Somerset County Man Goes To Michigan For Motel Sex With Girl, 14, He Met Online
Police: Somerset County Man Goes To Michigan For Motel Sex With Girl, 14, He Met Online A Somerset County man brought a 14-year-old girl he met online to a motel in Michigan and had sex with her there, authorities charged. Jarred T. Robinson, 28, of the Somerset section of Franklin Township had been chatting online with the girl for about a month, they said. Last week, he caught a plane from Philadelphia to Detroit, then took public transportation 35 miles to get to Chesterfield Township, police there said. Robinson had a ride share app bring the girl to a local Walmart, then walked her to a local motel and had her wait at the side door while he rented a room at the front des…

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by Jerry DeMarco