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In addition to lewdness, the three-count indictment also charges Michael K. Russo with having child sexual abuse files stored on a computer drive connected with his email address and for possessing cocaine, Acting Prosecutor Lori Linskey said on Friday.
Russo, 51, was charged with third-degree endangering the welfare of a child via possession of child sexual abuse material, third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance and fourth-degree lewdness, Linskey said.
Russo was among more than a dozen people arrested since April as the result of a series of investigations led by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Computer Crimes Unit and the Monmouth County Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, according to Linskey.
In Russo's case, the investigation initiated by a referral from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) found that Russo had uploaded several dozen digital files constituting child sexual abuse material to his Google Drive over the span of about nine months in 2019, Linskey said..
Additional evidence recovered during the course of the investigation served as the basis for two additional charges, the prosecutor said According to the evidence, Russo allegedly exposed himself while at a public park in Asbury Park on or around July 25, 2019, Linskey said.
The Monmouth County ICAC Task Force includes members of the following police departments: Bradley Beach, Eatontown, Howell, Long Branch, Manalapan, Marlboro, Neptune Township, Spring Lake, Tinton Falls, Keyport, Keansburg, Belmar, Holmdel, and Red Bank; the Task Force also receives investigative support from the police departments in Long Branch, Colts Neck, Highlands, Hazlet, Howell, Union Beach, Keansburg, Red Bank, West Long Branch, Ocean Township, Freehold\ Township, and Freehold Borough, as well as the New Jersey State Police (Hamilton Barracks).
Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Stephanie Dugan is handling the case.
Anyone with information about Russo’s activities is being asked to contact MCPO Detective Michael Arduini at 800-533-7443.
Convictions on charges of this nature are punishable by up to five years in state prison, as well as the defendant being registered under Megan’s Law and assigned parole supervision for life, the prosecutor said.
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