TOMS RIVER, NJ – On September 9th, 2020, two men were lodged in the Ocean County Jail for crimes against children. Charles Ryan Barrett was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and selling photographs of children. Charles John Schlotfeld was sentenced for trying to lure a minor into a motor vehicle back in 2018. Both men were lodged in the Ocean County Jail.
We reached out to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office regarding Barrett’s arrest and are awaiting a response.
Schlotfeld was lodged in jail under NJ 2C:13-6, where a person commits a crime of the second degree if he attempts, via electronic or any other means, to lure or entice a child or one who he reasonably believes to be a child into a motor vehicle, structure or isolated area, or to meet or appear at any other place, with a purpose to commit a criminal offense with or against the child.
He was sentenced for his crime this week with four years in prison.
In 2018 Schlotfeld was arrested during Operation Open House, an undercover sting managed by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. Schlotfeld was charged with attempted sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl and child luring.
During that operation, sexual predators were lured by undercover law enforcement operators posing as children and asked the predators to meet the children at their home, which instead, was filled with police officers waiting to make an arrest. They were expecting to find their victims home alone, instead, were arrested by the officers posing as teen victims.
In related news, an incident in Lakewood Township has heightened the concerns of families living in that town.
Last week, on the first day of school in Lakewood, the leader of a known hate-group operating in Ocean County raised the concerns of Lakewood Township residents after he was spotted taking photographs of children at the Oak Street and Spruce Street Elementary Schools, posing as a news photographer. Those photos were later posted on the individual’s social media page, which has been condemned by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, Governor Phil Murphy, and the Ocean County Freeholders as a hate group.
We attempted to contact the Lakewood School district about this incident but received no response. Parents should remain vigilant as always and on guard if they see strange individuals taking pictures of their children in their neighborhood, local parks, playgrounds and near schools. If you see something say something and notify your local police department of suspicious individuals.
The photo above shows Schlotfeld’s 2018 and 2020 mug shots.