Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato and Brick Township Police Chief James Riccio announced the arrest of Mr. David Michael Courtney, 18, of Brick.
Ocean County authorities charged Courtney with one count of 3rd Degree Possession of Child Pornography. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s High Tech Crime Unit, U.S. Immigration, and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and Brick Township Police Department teamed up in this latest proactive operation to stop child exploitation.
The arrest is the result of proactive cyber monitoring by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit and a referral from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to HSI, advising that a group was identified as sharing images that originated out of Canada.
Officials say the subsequent investigation revealed that an already active investigation by Ocean County Prosecutor’s HTCU had direct connectivity to the referral received and had already determined Courtney to be the source of the images emanating from Ocean County.
According to authorities, on June 27th, the investigation culminated with OCPO HTCU, HSI and Brick Police executing a search warrant at 103 Waters Edge Court in Brick. The court approved search resulted in evidence supporting the above charge. Senior Assistant Prosecutor Kristin Pressman approved the charge and Courtney was arrested. He is being held in the Ocean County Jail pending a first appearance.
Criminal charges are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.