A Monmouth County grand jury has returned a one-count indictment charging the owner of the now-defunct Galaxy Gymnastics School with possession of pornography that depicted the sexual abuse of children, announced Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
Officials said Ronald J. Charles, 53, of Freehold Township, was arraigned Monday before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge David Bauman, P.J.Cr. Charles now faces up to five years in a New Jersey state prison on the one count of third degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child for Possession of Child Pornography.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Computer Crimes Unit arrested Charles in December 2015 after the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Regional Task Force received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The CyberTip reported an individual, later identified as Charles, attempted to send multiple images of child pornography via his personal email address. Based on that information, a search warrant was issued leading to the seizure of a computer from Charles’ home office.
After Charles was arrested, a lengthy and complicated forensic examination of his computer revealed numerous images of child pornography. Charles’ arrest occurred prior to the Criminal Justice Reform Act which was signed into law and took effect on January 1, 2017.
Officials said following his arrest in December 2015, Charles was released after posting $40,000 bail with no 10 percent option, as set by Freehold Township Municipal Court Judge Nicole Sonnenblick. As a condition of his bail, Judge Sonnenblick prohibited Charles from having any unsupervised contact with any minors and barred him from using the Internet. He remains released on bail.
Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.