New Jersey man charged with taking cellphone photos of his sexual abuse of children

NEWARK, N.J. — An Essex County man was charged Thursday with sexually abusing two children and recording the abuse on his cell phone. The indictment follows an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Justin Kinney, 26, of Newark, was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of producing child pornography. Kinney was previously arrested and charged by federal complaint on April 20, 2014, and is currently in state custody on related charges.

According to court documents, on Oct. 25, 2012, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on Kinney’s laptop computer and cell phone, which revealed several files depicting child sexual abuse. The files appeared to be self-produced and were taken with the same type of cell phone seized from Kinney at the time of his arrest.

Each count of production of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,300 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.