Ronald J. Charles, 51, of Freehold Township, was arrested on Dec. 29 and charged with two counts of third degree possession of child pornography, Monmouth County Acting Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced.
The prosecutor identified Charles as the owner of Galaxy Gymnastics, Freehold Township.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Computer Crimes Unit and the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Regional Task Force received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to Gramiccioni.
The CyberTip reported that an individual, later identified as Charles, allegedly attempted to send multiple images of child pornography via his personal email address. Based on that information, a search warrant was issued and that led to the seizure of a computer from Charles’ home office. A subsequent examination of that computer revealed numerous images of child pornography, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The investigation was conducted by Detective Richard Hudak of the Freehold Township Police Department and ICAC Regional Task Force, in conjunction with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Computer Crimes Unit.
Charles was arrested without incident. He was released after posting $40,000 bail with no 10 percent option, as set by Freehold Township Municipal Court Judge Nicole Sonnenblick. As a condition of his bail, Sonnenblick prohibited Charles from having any unsupervised contact with any minors and barred him from using the Internet.
If convicted of possession of child pornography, Charles faces a sentence of up to five years in prison on each count.
