MAYS LANDING – An Absecon man has been charged in connection with the distribution of child abuse images and videos via a social messaging application. Stephen T. Costello, 41, was arrested without incident and lodged in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received a referral of inappropriate content distributed on the social media file sharing application KIK. A subsequent investigation led Atlantic County Prosecutor Detectives to identify Costello and determine he distributed over 1000 videos and images of child sexual exploitation.
He was charged with a 1st degree offense in reference to the distribution of child abuse images via a social messaging service. Mr. Costello was also charged with 2nd degree possession of child abuse images.