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Trent Collier, a 56-year-old onetime "family service specialist" for the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency, had arrived on a flight from the Dominican Republic last October when images of child pornography were found on his cellphone, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
"One image depicts a fully nude prepubescent boy and fully nude prepubescent girl on a bed," a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark says. "The boy appears to have an erect penis, and the girl is holding it.
"The second image depicts a nude adult woman lying on a bed with a fully nude prepubescent girl," the complaint filed by a U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations agent says. "The woman is touching the girl's genitalia."
Collier, of Kearny, admitted exchanging the images for others via WhatsApp, the complaint adds. It doesn't say why his devices were selected for searches.
Collier, who became a state child services worker in 2020, was at first suspended and then let go, authorities said.
He's remained free on a $50,000 unsecured bond since his arrest.
Since then, however, investigators learned that from June 19 through Sept. 29 of last year, Collier "attempted to solicit a minor for a commercial sex act," Sellinger said this week.
The new charges were included in an indictment secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Camila A. Garces of his General Crimes Unit in Newark that charges Collier with possession and transportation of child pornography and attempted sex trafficking of a minor.
Sellinger credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations in Newark and the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General with the investigation leading to the indictment.
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