EVESHAM, NJ – A Somerdale man has been accused and charged by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for allegedly traveling to the Walmart on Route 70 in Evesham Township on Tuesday believing he would be having sex with the 13-year-old girl he met through a chat app and had been texting with over the last month.
The 49-year-old Somerdale man traveled from his home in Camden County to instead find investigators from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office High-Tech Crimes Unit, the Evesham Township Police Department waiting for him. He was immediately taken into custody.
According to the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, Richard J. Kostrub, of the 200 block of Hollyoke Road, was unaware that the young girl he had arranged to meet was actually a federal agent from HSI.
“Kostrub was charged with Luring (Second Degree), Attempted Sexual Assault (Second Degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material with Intent to Distribute (Second Degree), Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (Second Degree), Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (Third Degree) and Attempted Criminal Sexual Contact (Fourth Degree),” the agency said in a statement. “He was lodged in the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly pending a detention hearing in Superior Court. The case will be prepared for presentation to a grand jury for possible indictment.”