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Between May and August 2024, Christian Kohl, 46, of Brick Township, chatted with an undercover detective posing as a 14-year-old girl on the Kik messaging app, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.
Kohl, who identified as a 38-year-old man, sent multiple photos and videos of himself to the "girl," despite knowing that "she" was only 14 years old, on multiple occasions, Billhimer's office said.
Kohl's case was brought to the prosecutor's office when the New Jersey State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force brought a referral to them, Billhimer said.
On Aug. 15, detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit, United States Department of Homeland Security Investigations, Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, and Brick Township Police Department, executed a court-authorized search warrant on Kohl’s Brick Township home.
An initial forensic examination of Kohl’s cell phone turned up several items of child pornography. He was taken into custody at his home without incident. He was transported to the Ocean County Jail, where he was lodged pending a detention hearing.
Kohl was charged with Possession of Child Pornography, Attempted Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and Attempt to Provide Obscene Material to a Minor.
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