BRICK, NJ – A Brick Township man was arrested during a warrant execution at his home and charged with distributing and possession of child pornography. Child pornography and crimes against children have each been on the rise throughout the COVID-19 pandemic according to national law enforcement centers.
Related: Should Toms River councilman’s job defending child rapists and human traffickers matter?
Luis Castaneda-Contreras, 33, of Brick Township, was charged with Distribution of Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography.
“This investigation was the result of a referral from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children through the New Jersey State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which identified a person in Ocean County as distributing Child Pornography via the Internet,” law enforcement officials said. “An investigation by Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit identified a residence in Brick Township as the source of the uploaded images of child pornography.”
On June 16, 2021, Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit and Brick Township Police Department executed a court-authorized search warrant on Castaneda-Contreras’ residence in Brick Township. As a result, Detectives seized multiple electronic devices that contained images of child pornography.
Castaneda-Contreras was subsequently arrested at his place of employment in Middletown, Monmouth County. Castaneda-Contreras was processed at Brick Township Police Department Headquarters, and transported to the Ocean County Jail where he is currently lodged pending a detention hearing.