Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that on November 16, Richard Knight, 40, of New Egypt, pled guilty to Distribution of Explicit Images of Minors and Possession of Explicit Images of Minors.
According to Prosecutor Billhimer, this investigation, which began in December 2020, resulted from numerous referrals from the New Jersey State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
The Task Force detected that a user of the program Google Meets was uploading explicit images of minors to the internet.
An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit identified a residence in New Egypt as the source of the uploaded explicit images of minors.
According to Prosecutor Billhimer, on June 9, Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit, United States Homeland Security Investigations, and Plumsted Township Police Department, executed a court-authorized search warrant on Knight’s residence in New Egypt.
As a result, Detectives seized two cell phones from the residence. Further investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit revealed that Knight’s cell phone contained more than 1,000 images but less than 100,000 explicit images of minors.
The investigation also revealed that Knight distributed explicit images of minors using Google Meets and other social media platforms.
According to Prosecutor Billhimer, Knight was subsequently arrested at his place of employment in Browns Mills on June 9, and he has been lodged in the Ocean County Jail since that date.