Crime, Regional Interest

Prosecutor: Area Coach Indicted on 30 Counts of Sexual Abuse Crimes Against Student-Athletes

A Monmouth County Grand Jury has returned a 30-count indictment, including additional and upgraded charges, against an area youth soccer coach who allegedly committed various sexual abuse crimes against student-athletes while they were under his supervision, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced on Tuesday.

Ryan Gunsauls, 32, of Union Beach, has been charged with: four counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child by manufacturing child sexual abuse material (CSAM); four counts of second-degree attempted endangering via manufacture of CSAM; eight counts of second-degree endangering via sexual conduct; nine counts of third-degree distributing obscene materials to a minor; two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact; and single counts of second-degree endangering via distribution of CSAM, third-degree endangering via sexual conduct, and third-degree possession of CSAM.

The case background …

An investigation involving members of the MCPO Special Victims Bureau and the Union Beach police began earlier this year, when a juvenile disclosed that Gunsauls had been allegedly soliciting and distributing sexually 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.

Gunsauls was arrested 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.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Keri-Leigh Schaefer of the MCPO Special Victims Bureau. Gunsauls is being represented by Michael J. Pappa, Esq., with an office in Hazlet. Anyone with more information about Gunsauls’s activities is being urged to contact MCPO Detective Joseph Mason at 800-533-7443.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office