NJ youth camp instructor distributed child porn, police say

MEDFORD — A 32-year-old instructor at a youth camp in Medford has been charged with possession and distribution of child pornography, police said Thursday.

Stephen B. Gifford of Medford as charged with a second degree charge of distribution of child pornography and two third degree charges for possession of the material.

According to authorities, Gifford works as a ropes course instructor and maintenance worker at the JCC Camps at Medford. In addition, police say he works in patient transport at Virtua Health System.

The investigation began after police were contacted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Authorities found that Gifford had uploaded a pornographic image involving a child, for others to upload, police said.

Authorities then searched his home and seized several digital devices that were later found to contain pornographic images and videos of adult men engaged in sexual acts with underage girls, according to the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office.

Gifford was arrested and transported to Burlington County Jail on $100,000 bail with no 10 percent option. The case will be sent to a grand jury. He is due in court Friday for his first appearance.

Police are continuing the investigation and ask that anyone with information about this defendant that might be useful to investigators should call the Prosecutor’s Office at 609-265-5270.

The investigation was conducted by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office High-Tech Crimes Unit, the Medford Police Department, and the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit, which oversees the NJSP Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office High-Tech Crimes Unit is a member of the ICAC Task Force.

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