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A juvenile was also taken into custody as part of “Operation Ever Vigilant,” headed by the NJ State Police, which also turned up sexually explicit videos portraying necrophilia and bestiality, among other acts, state Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa said.
Five of those arrested had direct contact with young children, including two defendants who are alleged to be regular babysitters. Another is a registered sex offender.
CLIFFVIEW PILOT broke the initial story this morning:
YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A self-employed computer technician from Palisades Park is among more than two dozen defendants arrested the past few weeks, as State Police and other authorities teamed up to bust major distributors of child pornography that they said includes child-rape videos, CLIFFVIEW PILOT has learned. READ MORE….
The Digital Technology Investigations Unit of the State Police began the investigation late last year by randomly searching for New Jersey residents who were producing images of “pre-pubescent boys and girls being sexually molested by being penetrated, or by being coerced into performing sexual acts on themselves, or others,” Chiesa said.
Working with law enforcement partners in the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, multi-agency teams swept across New Jersey between February 18-22.
Those charged “come from all walks of life,” Chiesa said, but each “was found to be in possession of multiple sexually explicit videos of young children, which they had made available to others.”
They include:
- Louis Cedeno, 46, of Palisades Park, a self-employed computer technician;
- David Laidlaw, 36, of Hillsdale
- Ernest Okhtenberg, 39, of Fair Lawn
- Joseph Lorz, 26, of Bergenfield
- Jose Oswaldo, 39, of Fairview
Among the nearly 20 others arrested was 66-year-old Michael Suscreba of Clifton.
“Anyone who views and distributes child pornography – particularly the type of child rape videos targeted in this operation – puts himself in league with the predators who sexually assault children to create these videos,” said Chiesa, who announced the arrests this morning with NJSP Col. Richard Fuentes and Elie Honig, deputy director of the state Division of Criminal Justice.
“The children they watch being tortured are violated again by their actions, and these offenders may pose a danger to other children because of their predilections,” Chiesa said.
Fuentes added: “Everyone sitting in the seclusion of their darkened homes viewing child rape videos has victimized these innocents by creating the market for this disgusting material. There’s no room for them to say, ‘I haven’t hurt anyone.’”
Among those charged, Stephen Rainone of South Amboy is listed on the state’s sex offender Internet registry as a Tier 2 offender for the sexual assault of girls under 13.
Another, Brent Ailiff of West Berlin, was in the U.S. illegally and had hundreds of kiddie porn files.
The strike team included more 50 troopers, agents, detectives and officers from dozens of law enforcement agencies who executed warrants in 25 different towns statewide.
Leading the charge was the NJSP T.E.A.M.S. Unit, a tactical operations group similar to SWAT.
In addition to those already mentioned, the arrest list includes:
Nil Choudhury, 23, Margate City, Atlantic County
James Engle, 28, Budd Lake, Morris, County
Albert Femiano, 30, Clark, Union County
Frank Fiorelli, 61, Springfield, Union County
Alfred Bakewell, 64, Sicklerville, Camden County
Moses Garcia, 25, Perth Amboy, Middlesex County
Jose Holguin, 59, Fords, Middlesex County
Alexander Ramirez, 36, North Plainfield, Somerset County
Brent Ailiff, 38, West Berlin, Camden County
Steven Anan, 52, Neptune City, Monmouth County
Ryan Bronchella, 34, Clementon, Camden County
Christopher Brondi, 57, Rumson, Monmouth County
Manuel Sanchez-Olivarez, 37, Red Bank, Monmouth County
Duane Bell, 43, Lawrence, Mercer County
Giovanni Jimenez, 37, Trenton, Mercer County
William Payton II, 20, Mount Holly, Burlington County
Frank Sysk II, 19, Browns Mills, Burlington County
Male juvenile, 17, Cherry Hill, Camden County
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