A five-month operation, dubbed Operation Trading Post, which focused on online consumers of child sexual exploitation materials recently resulted in the arrest of 14 people, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni announced.

The operation was carried out by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Computer Crimes Unit and Monmouth County Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force between June of 2018 and October 2018.

Among those arrested is a former member of the Environmental Commission in Atlantic Highlands, an employee of Princeton University, a VP of Operations for ING Financial Markets, and a laborer at Love Inc., a religious non-profit organization.

Operation Trading Post was designed to reduce online threats to Monmouth County children and to decrease the market for child sexual exploitation by focusing on those individuals seeking out and trafficking in child pornographic materials.

“It is incumbent on everyone, particularly those of us in law enforcement, to protect children from harm and exploitation.  To that end, Operation Trading Post caught individuals who shamelessly viewed and shared depraved images of children being sexually abused,” Gramiccioni said. “Our successful operation demonstrates the value of our partnerships with the local law enforcement agencies that help our ICAC Task Force continue to have a vigilant and watchful eye for this extremely damaging criminal activity.”

Assisting in Operation Trading Post were members of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and the Asbury Park, Freehold Borough, Hazlet Township, Holmdel Township, Howell Township, Keansburg, Keyport, Manalapan Township, Marlboro Township, Middletown Township, Ocean Township, Red Bank, Sea Bright, Spring Lake, Tinton Falls, and Wall Township police departments.

The following individuals were arrested as a result of Operation Trading Post:

•Jonathan Henry, 22, of Octavia Place in Keyport, who was employed as a dishwasher at The Turning Point, was arrested on June 19, 2018 after an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which revealed he uploaded child pornography to Twitter and Dropbox. Henry is charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Henry is represented by Christopher Aiello, Esq.

• Michael Balbosa, 34, Fifth Avenue in Neptune City, a courier with Federal Express, was arrested on June 29, 2018, following an investigation which revealed that he used Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online. Balbosa is charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Balbosa is represented by Jonathan F. Marshall, Esq.

• Anthony Johnson, 38, of Ninth Avenue in Neptune Township, who is unemployed, was arrested on July 10, 2018 after an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which revealed he uploaded child pornography to Dropbox. Johnson is charged with one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Johnson is represented by Patricia Colligan, Esq.

• Rene Torres, 48, of Gettysburg Drive in Howell Township, who works in Operations for ING Financial Markets, was arrested on July 18, 2018 after an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which revealed he uploaded child pornography to Flikr. Torres is charged with one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Torres is represented by Jonathan F. Marshall, Esq.

• A juvenile, of Holmdel, was arrested on July 25, 2018, following an investigation which revealed that he used Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online. The juvenile is charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). The juvenile is represented by Robert A. Honecker, Esq.

• Brian Foley, 60, of Asbury Avenue in Atlantic Highlands, an Information Technology Specialist with Cerner Corporation and former member of the Environmental Commission in Atlantic Highlands, was arrested on July 26, 2018, after an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which revealed he uploaded child pornography to the website, Motherless. Foley is charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Foley is represented by Edward Washburne, Esq.

• Alexander Ecock, 22, of Grenoble Court in Freehold, was arrested on July 31, 2018, following an investigation which revealed that he used Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online. Ecock is charged with one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Ecock is represented by Richard Incremona, Esq.

• William McMahon, 64, of Brookside Avenue in Keansburg, a deli worker at Acme Markets, was arrested on Aug. 3, 2018 following an investigation involving an undercover chat on Doublelist.com. McMahon believed he was chatting with, and made plans to meet, a 14-year-old boy. As a result, McMahon was charged with one count of Luring, a second-degree crime, one count of attempted sexual assault, a second-degree crime, and one count of attempted endangering the welfare of a child, a third-degree crime. McMahon is represented by Brian Goldenfarb, Esq.

• Thiago Thebald-Simas, 24, of Oakhill Avenue, in Long Branch, who is unemployed, was arrested on Aug. 24, 2018, following an investigation which revealed that he used Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online. Thebald-Simas is charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child, second-degree (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Thebald-Simas is represented by Claudio Stanziola, Esq.

• David Wu, 32, of Skyline Drive in Hazlet, a logistics specialist with Vanguard, was arrested on Aug. 29, 2018 following an investigation which revealed that he used Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online. Wu is charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child, second-degree (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Wu is represented by Jonathan F. Marshall, Esq.

• Joshua Valerio, 37, of White Street in Eatontown, a laborer at Love, Inc., was arrested on Sept. 20, 2018, after an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which revealed he uploaded child pornography to Gmail. Valerio is charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Valerio is represented by Steven Nelson, Esq.

• Fady Elghazaly, 33, of Ravenswood Road in Marlboro, a mechanic with United Airlines, was arrested on Sept. 26, 2018 following an investigation which revealed that he used Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing software to make child pornography images and videos available to others online. Elghazaly is charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child, second-degree (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Elghazaly is represented by Mitchell Ansell, Esq.

• Ronald Paul, 56, of Haverford Court in Freehold, was arrested on Oct. 18, 2018, after an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which revealed he uploaded child pornography to Tumblr. Paul is charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography) and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Paul is represented by Michael Grasso, Esq.

• Ryan Marques, 18, of Dorado Beach Court in Howell, a student, was arrested on Nov. 19, 2018 and was the subject of an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which revealed he uploaded child pornography to Dropbox. A warrant was issued for Marques’s arrest on Oct. 25, 2018 charging him with one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Marques is represented by Raymond Santiago, Esq.

• Gregory Cantrell, 61, of Mariners Cove in Freehold, an employee of Princeton University, was arrested on Nov. 5, 2018, after an investigation of a Cybertip forwarded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which revealed he uploaded child pornography to Bing Image. Cantrell is charged with one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography). Cantrell is represented by Kevin Clark, Esq.

All the defendants were released on the conditions that they have no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18 and not use the internet. McMahon remains incarcerated pending trial.

If convicted of the second-degree endangering, attempted sexual assault or luring charges, a defendant will face a maximum sentence of 10 years in New Jersey state prison, Megan’s Law, and parole supervision for life. If convicted of the third-degree endangering charge, a defendant will face a maximum sentence of five years in state prison and parole supervision for life.

All the cases are assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutors Martha Nye and Stephanie Dugan.

— Press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office