A 38-year-old Hillsborough resident will face multiple child pornography charges after a national watchdog group reported to local law enforcement that he had been partaking in sexually explicit online conversations with a minor.
Rolando Miranda, of Farm Road, was taken into custody at approximately 6 a.m. on Monday, following an investigation by the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigations/Computer Crimes Unit.
According to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, the investigation started in earnest when officials received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that Miranda was allegedly using multiple social media accounts to contact children.
Officials said it was during those conversations that Miranda allegedly would discuss sexually explicit topics and attempt to secure sexually explicit images and videos of underage children.
In collaboration with the Hillsborough Township Police Department and special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the prosecutor’s office executed a search warrant of Miranda’s home, where multiple devices were seized. Officials said additional computer forensic examinations were needed.
Miranda was taken into police custody without incident at his home. He was charged with first-degree manufacturing child pornography, third-degree endangering the welfare of a child and third-degree possession of child pornography.
Miranda is being held at the Somerset County Jail, in Somerville, pending a detention hearing.
