JACKSON, NJ – Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that Massinissa Ladj, an 18-year-old resident of Jackson Township, has been charged with multiple offenses stemming from a series of disturbing incidents in Lakewood Township. On February 18, 2025, Ladj was arrested and charged with Sexual Assault, three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and four counts of Lewdness. The charges are connected to events that took place on January 21, January 23, February 5, and February 11, 2025.
The investigation began on January 24, 2025, when the Lakewood Township Police Department received a report of a troubling encounter from the previous day.
According to authorities, a 16-year-old girl walking along East 5th Avenue was beckoned to a black vehicle by a male wearing a ski mask.
As she approached, the suspect made motions consistent with masturbation before fleeing the scene. Further investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit and Lakewood Township Police Department uncovered a similar incident two days earlier, on January 21, 2025. In that case, a 12-year-old girl in the same East 5th Avenue area was approached by a male wearing a black surgical mask, who exposed himself and masturbated before speeding away in a black vehicle.
The pattern continued into February. On February 11, 2025, a woman walking with her baby on North Lake Drive reported a man in a black vehicle pulling over to ask for directions. When she approached, she observed the man masturbating, and he subsequently drove off.
During the investigation of this incident, authorities learned of yet another encounter on February 5, 2025, in which a 14-year-old girl was summoned to a vehicle by a male matching the suspect’s description. Once again, the man was masturbating when the girl approached. Police obtained a detailed description of the suspect’s vehicle, which proved critical to the case.
Through diligent investigative work, authorities identified Massinissa Ladj as the individual responsible for these incidents. On February 18, 2025, as Ladj left his Jackson Township residence, officers from the Jackson Township Police Department conducted a traffic stop on his vehicle. Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit, the High Tech Crime Squad, Lakewood Township Police Department, Jackson Township Police Department, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office executed a court-authorized search warrant on the vehicle. Ladj was arrested at the scene without incident.
Following his arrest, Ladj was transported to the Ocean County Jail, where he remains in custody pending a detention hearing.
