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Andrew Rodriguez, 27, Park Ridge
(MUGSHOTS: NJSP)
Prosecutors’ investigators from 11 counties in the state participated in the three-month initiative, as did the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Postal Service.
“Through aggressive, technology-driven investigations such as Operation Watchdog, we must banish the misguided notion that online viewing and sharing of child pornography is a victimless crime,” Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa said, in announcing the sweep.
“The vulnerable children who are tortured and degraded to create these vile materials are re-victimized every time another person views the images,” Chiesa said. “Moreover, these offenders generate the demand that motivates suppliers to produce these odious images.”
“Operation Watchdog” was coordinated by the Digital Technology Investigations Unit of New Jersey State Police, with what Col. Rick Fuentes, superintendent of the agency, called “seamless integration of more than 100 troopers, agents, detectives and officers from 21 law enforcement agencies.”
From April 9 through April 13, a tactical operations group similar to a SWAT team hit sites in 26 different towns statewide.
One of the defendants “had his computer actively running a file-sharing program with multiple child porn images when the warrant on his home was served,” Fuentes said.
Andrew Rodriguez, 27, of Park Ridge, was released without bail after being arrested April 11, according to the NJSP.
Authorities were still looking for three more defendants who weren’t identified, he said.
The state Division of Criminal Justice, which will prosecute those arrested, prepared the warrants and provided legal guidance.
The NJSP Polygraph Unit was used to interview many of those arrested.
The State Police Evidence Management Unit helped catalog the computers files.
The FBI’s Regional Computer Forensic Lab is digging even deeper, which could lead to additional charges and possibly more arrests.
The “partner” agencies:
New Jersey State Police
New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
US Postal Service
NJ State Parole
Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office
Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office
Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office
Camden County Prosecutor’s Office
Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office
Essex County Prosecutor’s Office
Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office
Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
Morris County Prosecutor’s Office
Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office
Passaic County Sheriff’s Office
Somerset County Sheriff’s Office
Cinnaminson Police Department
Monroe Township (Gloucester Co.) PD
Woodbridge Township PD
All of the “partner” agencies in the state belong to the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC). Federal agents also helped with the probe and the raids.
“The ICAC Task Force in New Jersey works with other out-of-state partners to share information on potential distributors and users of child pornography,” Fuentes said.
These include the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Washington, D.C., which maintains a national, toll-free tip line for the public to report crimes against children:
1-800-THE-LOST, or 1-800-843-5678
New Jersey authorities said the tip line provided more than 900 leads to the task force involving sexual crimes against children.
“Those who thought they could hide their child porn crimes in the secrecy of their homes have been exposed by the relentless work of law enforcement working together,” Fuentes said. “We will continue to stand together—as the name Operation Watchdog implies—as guardians to protect children from those who would make them sexual victims.”
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