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An 18-count indictment, handed up by a Monmouth County Grand Jury, charges David Lopez with soliciting illicit photos and videos from a teenage girl, then distributing them to members of her family in retaliation for her threatening to break off contact with him, authorities said.
He was charged with first-degree manufacturing child sexual abuse materials, multiple counts of endangering the welfare of of a child, making terroristic threats, criminal coercion and cyber harassment, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey.
A joint investigation by the Keansburg Police Department and members of the Prosecutor’s Office found that Lopez contacted with victim via social media sometime prior to August 2020, and thereafter asked her to send him sexually explicit photos and videos, Linskey said Friday.
After several such exchanges, the investigation found, the victim said she wanted to cease contact with Lopez. Lopez allegedly responded by sending some of the photos and videos to at least a half dozen of her family members, including children as young as 11, the prosecutor said.
In addition, Lopez allegedly threatened to harm the victim’s family, threatened to have other individuals harm them, threatened to burn down their house, and told her he could make her life “a living hell," according to Linskey.
Lopez was arrested at his home on Aug. 25, 2020, after which he was released on home detention and ordered to have no contact with the victim and no Internet access while the criminal case against him remained pending.
Anyone with additional information about Lopez’s activities is urged to call Keansburg Police Department Detective Lt. Bryan King at 732-787-0600.
This case is being handled by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Ryan
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