Highlands Man Pleads Guilty To Possession Of Child Pornography

Layne Bracht, screen shot

Layne Bracht, 32 of Highlands, pleaded guilty in federal court in Camden today to one count as possession of child pornography, according to a statement by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.

Bracht admitted that on Oct. 28, 2013, he knowingly placed images and videos depicting child sexual abuse into shared folders that others could access via a peer-to-peer network. Special agents of the FBI executed a search warrant at his residence in Highlands on Jan. 15, 2014 and seized digital evidence that contained numerous videos and images depicting child sexual abuse, including material involving prepubescent minors and sadistic or masochistic conduct. The digital evidence seized included three files previously downloaded from Bracht by law enforcement agents working in an undercover capacity on the peer-to-peer network.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Colts Neck Teen Indicted in 2013 stabbing and carjacking

photo via facebook

Brennan Doyle, 17 of Colts Neck, was indicted by a Monmouth County Grand Jury on 6 charges related to a July 2013 stabbing and carjacking in the Township.

Doyle will be tried as an adult on charges of first degree Carjacking; first degree Attempted Murder; third degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose; fourth degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon; third degree Hindering Apprehension of Oneself; and fourth degree Obstructing the Administration of Law according to a statement by Acting Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni.  His name was not previously released due to the juvenile confidentiality statute.

Doyle was released after posting $760,000 bail with no 10 percent option, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge James J. McGann, J.S.C.  Judge McGann also ordered Doyle to have no victim contact and no return to scene on all charges.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Link Between Crime and Brain Injuries Prompts Push for Legislation

Assemblywoman Grace Spencer Studies have shown a link between early brain trauma and criminal activity later in life. That’s why some state legislators are proposing a bill that would create a program to work with children who show signs of brain injury or have committed crimes. One study has found that jail and prison inmates report… Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Howell Man Faces New Pedophile Charges

Gregory Rittman

A Howell man who was arrested two weeks ago for masturbating in front of a juvenile in the public bathroom at a fast food restaurant on Route 35 in Wall Township is facing a dozen new charges after additional victims were identified, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Gregory S. Rittman, 49, of Howell Township, was arrested on Friday, Oct. 24, 2014, after authorities received a report from an employee at a McDonald’s that described lewd behavior witnessed by an 8-year-old juvenile, near the sink in the men’s bathroom of the restaurant. Rittman was charged with one count each of second degree Sexual Assault, third degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, fourth degree Lewdness and a disorderly persons charge of Harassment. He was released after posting $73,000 bail with no 10-percent option, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Teresa A. Kondrup-Coyle, J.S.C.

News of Rittman’s October arrest, which included his picture, prompted three additional victims to come forward.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Asbury Park Man Arrested In Neptune Shooting

A twenty-two year old Asbury Park man was arrested today and charged with the early Monday morning shooting of a Neptune Township woman.

According to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Diquan Speights is charged with one count each of first degree Attempted Murder, second degree Burglary, second degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon, and second degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose. Speights is currently being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township, on $650,000 bail, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Francis J. Vernoia, P.J.Cr. Judge Vernoia also ordered Speights may not return to the scene of the crime and may not have any contact with his victim, as part of a condition of bail.

Neptune Township Police received a 911 call at approximately 4:28 am, reporting a female was shot inside 1827 Bangs Avenue, Apartment 5A.  Neptune police immediately responded to the apartment and located the 22- year-old female with a gunshot wound.  The victim was transported to a local hospital where she remains in critical but stable condition.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Large Heroin Trafficking Ring Busted

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman

Fourteen members of a major Jersey shore drug trafficking organization (DTO) were arrested this morning by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The DTO is alleged to be a large-scale supplier of heroin and cocaine in Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex counties.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman joined representatives of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the DEA in announcing the arrests at the Prosecutor’s satellite office in Asbury Park.

A total of 22 defendants were charged in two complaints. 7 remain at large and one has been in custody since September on other charges.

Herve Cadet, a/k/a “Gotti,” a/k/a “Bro,” 29, of Neptune and Sayreville, New Jersey; and Eric Smith, a/k/a “EV,” a/k/a “E,” 42, of Manchester, New Jersey are the alleged leaders of the DTO. Smith is the defendant who has been incarcerated since September.

“The criminal complaints describe drug trafficking operations that have been responsible for sizable quantities of illegal narcotics on the streets of Asbury Park, Neptune Township, and the surrounding towns,” U.S. Attorney Fishman said. “We hope and expect that today’s arrests will make a real difference to the drug trafficking trade in these counties. This is not the last that you will hear from us in this fight.”
Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Two Middletown Men Charged With Arson

Sean Powers photo via facebook

Sean Powers, a twenty-two year old Middletown volunteer firefighter has been charged with starting the fire that left him with critical burn injuries.  William Rohweder, 23 of Middletown was also charged with arson of an abandoned barn in a residential area.  The fire at 251 Monmouth Ave was reported to Middletown authorities on Saturday morning at 5:48 AM.  Powers’ address is 260 Monmouth Ave.

According to a statement from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, both young men have been charged with one count of second degree Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Arson, one count of second degree Aggravated Arson and one count of third degree Aggravated Assault.

Because of his status as a volunteer firefighter, Powers has also been charged with Official Misconduct, an offense that carries a maximum prison term of ten years and a minimum period of parole ineligibility of five years, upon conviction.

Powers is in critical but stable condition at The Burn Center at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston.  Judge Honora O’Brien Kilgallen set Powers bail as R. O. R. (Released On Recognizance) so long as he remains in an in-patient. Upon his release from The Burn Center, his bail will be reviewed.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Lakehurst Child Pornographer Pleads Guilty in Court

TOMS RIVER-A Lakehurst man plead guilty in court today and faces six years in prison for distributing child pornography. Michael R. Allen, 27, of Lakehurst entered a guilty plea before Judge Francis R. Hodgson Jr., J.S.C., yesterday to second degree Distribution of Child Pornography. Allen is facing 6 years in New Jersey State Prison and mandatory… Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

New Jersey court reverses parole denial in 1973 trooper killing

• Tweet

Brick Realtor Arrested After Arranging Sex With Fourteen Year Old Girl

Girl Was Undercover Cop

Richard J. Jones Mugshot

A 66 year old real estate broker was arrested today after he set up a meeting to have sex with a 14 year old girl who was actually an undercover police officer, according to a statement by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

Richard J. Jones of Brick Township, Ocean County, was charged with second degree Attempted Sexual Assault after he was snagged this afternoon by a Joint Investigation of the Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit and investigators from the Asbury Park, Englishton and Wall Township police departments.  He is alleged to have used a local prostitute to facilitate a meeting to have sex with a 14 year old girl who was really an undercover police officer.

Jones, the owner and broker of Century 21 Herbertsville Real Estate in Brick, is being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution on $125,000 bail with no 10% option as set by Judge Honora O’Brien Kilgallen.  Judge Kilgallen also order Jones to have no contact with the prostitute who facilitated the meeting.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet