NJ man, residing in U.S. illegally, arrested on child porn charges, police say

A 54-year-old Ocean County man, residing in the United States illegally, has been arrested on child pornography charges, authorities announced Thursday.

Carlos Diaz Rojas of Point Pleasant Beach was charged with third degree possession of child pornography, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato.

Rojas was arrested after police executed a search warrant at the suspect's residence at 501 Philadelphia Ave. During the search, authorities seized computers and hard drives containing "hundreds of videos/images of prepubescent children engaged in sexual acts."

Rojas was taken into custody and bail was set at $100,000, cash only. In addition, Coronato said Rojas will also be the subject of an Immigration Detainer, since he is residing in the United States illegally.

The arrest comes on the heels of "Operation Statewide," an operation resulting in the arrest of 40 men — including at least one from each of the state’s 21 counties — on charges of possessing or distributing images of child sexual abuse.

Coronato said The Ocean County Prosecutor’s High Tech Crime Unit and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations are continuing to investigate such crimes through their “Cyber Child Pornography Drag Net.”

Toniann Antonelli is a social content producer for NJ 101.5. She can be reached at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.

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