Ocean County Man Charged with Sexually Abusing Toddler and Streaming Assault Live Over the Internet

TRENTON—An Ocean County, New Jersey man was charged today with sexually abusing a 14-month-old boy and streaming footage of the sexual assault over the Internet, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Rodford W. Brindley, Jr., 67, of Toms River, New Jersey, was arrested and charged by complaint with one count of sexual exploitation of a child. He is scheduled today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lois Goodman in Trenton federal court.

According to the complaint, law enforcement in Ohio had previously discovered Brindley through their own cybercrime investigation and had engaged in online chats with him. On April 2, 2012, Ohio law enforcement was engaged in an online chat with Brindley when he began sexually assaulting a toddler, recording and sharing the assault over the Internet using a webcam. Ohio law enforcement determined that Brindley was an Ocean County, New Jersey resident and immediately contacted New Jersey law enforcement, which obtained arrest and search warrants.

The charge of child sexual exploitation carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Fishman thanked the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department in Ohio; the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford; and the FBI’s Cyber Crimes Squad, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, for the investigation leading to today’s arrest.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah M. Wolfe of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.