A 41-year-old Somerset man has been indicted on five counts for allegedly taking lewd photographs of a young girl at a Red Bank car dealership.
The man is charged with 1st Degree Manufacturing of Child Sexual Abuse Materials, 2nd Degree Manufacturing of Child Sexual Abuse Materials, 3rd Degree Invasion of Privacy, and two counts of 3rd Degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, according to a press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
The incident took place shortly after 1 p.m. on May 2, 2021 at the Auto Exotica car dealership on Newman Springs Road in Red Bank, according to the release.
An investigation by members of the Red Bank Police Department, assisted by members of the Prosecutor’s Office, revealed that while at the dealership, the man snuck up to a teenage girl wearing a dress, who was looking at vehicles with her parents and two siblings, placed his cell phone flat in the palm of his hand, and surreptitiously placed it between the girl’s legs from behind to record photographs., a practice known as “upskirting.”
The man was arrested without incident and criminally charged in August 2021.
According to the release, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey is concerned that there may be more victims, and urges anyone who may have been victimized in this way to contact MCPO Sgt. Shawn Murphy at (800) 533-7443, or Red Bank Police Department Detective Sean Hauschildt at (732) 530-2700.
If convicted of the first-degree crime he is charged with, the man would face up to 20 years in state prison, with the possibility of up to 10 years for a conviction on the 2nd Degree charge.