FREEHOLD – A Manalapan man was arrested Monday on child pornography charges and endangering the welfare of a child, announced Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Computer Crimes Unit arrested Sean Gillet, 32, of Blenheim Road, Manalapan, Monday and he was charged with one count each of second degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Distribution of Child Pornography) and third degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Possession of Child Pornography).

Gillet’s bail was set at $150,000, no 10% option by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Honora O’Brien Kilgallen. Conditions of bail require Gillet not to use the Internet and to have no unsupervised contact with children under 18. Gillet remains in custody at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution.

If convicted of second degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Distribution of Child Pornography), Gillet faces five to ten years in a New Jersey state prison and will be subject to the provisions of Megan’s Law upon his release from state prison. If convicted of third degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Possession of Child Pornography), he faces three to five in a New Jersey state prison.

On or about June 1, 2016, Chatstep, a free group-chat service, reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), an individual using the nickname “esse” and an IP address resolving to Gillet’s home, uploaded an image of suspected child pornography to a Chatstep chat room, thereby making it available to be viewed by others in the chat room.

Upon execution of a search warrant at Gillet’s home, various computers, personal electronic devices, and electronic storage media were seized. An initial forensic preview of a seized thumb drive found in Gillet’s bedroom revealed that Gillet possessed numerous images of child pornography.

The case is assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Margaret Koping.

Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and State law.

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