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Local authorities had already removed the child from the Union Beach home of Herman Christopher Jensen, who became the subject of an FBI investigation, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said after federal agents arrested him Wednesday.
FBI investigators learned that Jensen had assumed the identity of a 17-year-old boy named Kevin Bennett on Facebook “in order to entice and solicit a minor to send nude and sexually explicit images over the internet,” Carpenito said.
Jensen lured the victim into a romantic relationship over the course of several months, then requested nude and semi-nude photographs via Messenger, the U.S. attorney said.
The victim obliged and, before long, Jensen was receiving “increasingly explicit videos,” he said.
Jensen eventually told the truth and managed to continue communicating with the victim through his own Facebook page, Carpenito said.
The victim traveled to New Jersey to live with Jensen in December 2018, and they began having sex, the U.S. attorney said.
Carpenito credited special agents and task force officers of the FBI and its Red Bank Resident Agency Jersey Shore Gang and Criminal Organization Task Force with the investigation leading to charges against Jensen of knowingly receiving images of child sexual abuse. He also thanked Union Beach police for their assistance.
Handling the case for the government is Assistant U.S. Attorney Perry Farhat of Carpenito’s Government Frauds Unit in Newark.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson released Jensen on $100,000 unsecured bond via teleconference.
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