By: Najla Alexander
Authorities in Monmouth County announced a Grand Jury has returned a 30-count indictment encompassing additional and upgraded charges against a youth soccer coach.
Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said the youth soccer coach is accused of engaging in a variety of explicit crimes against student-athletes formerly under his supervision.
Officials stated that Ryan Gunsauls, 32, of Union Beach, is facing multiple charges:
- Four counts of first-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child by Manufacturing Child Explicit Material (CSAM)
- Four counts of second-degree Attempted Endangering via Manufacture of CSAM
- Eight counts of second-degree Endangering via Explicit Conduct
- Nine counts of third-degree Distributing Obscene Materials to a Minor
- Two counts of fourth-degree Criminal Explicit Contact
- Single count of second-degree Endangering via Distribution of CSAM
- Single count of third-degree Endangering via Explicit Conduct
- Single count of third-degree Possession of CSAM
According to officials, an investigation involving members of the MCPO Special Victims Bureau and the Union Beach Police Department began earlier this year when a juvenile disclosed that Gunsauls had been soliciting and distributing explicit materials with him via a social media app.
As the investigation continued, eight additional victims, ranging in age from 11 to 17, were identified and contacted for interviews, officials say.
Authorities say Gunsauls was arrested without incident in May and transported to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI).
A motion by the Prosecutor’s Office to keep him detained as the case against him proceeds was granted by a Superior Court Judge later the same month, officials said.
Anyone with more information about Gunsauls’s activities is being urged to contact MCPO Detective Joseph Mason at 800-533-7443.