A 19-year-old East Newark man was arrested at his residence on Friday after Hudson County investigators say he contacted a 12-year-old girl through Roblox and instructed her to create and send child sexual abuse material. Benjamin Martes now faces charges tied to both facilitating and possessing that material
The case began in June 2026, when the Colerain Township Police Department in Ohio contacted the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit about an ongoing child sexual abuse material investigation, according to nj.com. Ohio law enforcement had determined that a 12-year-old girl met an individual through the gaming application Roblox who instructed her to create and send the material, the outlet reported.
Investigators ultimately identified Martes as the person who had contacted the juvenile victim. A search of his electronic devices turned up child sexual abuse material, Mello said, according to the same nj.com report.
Charges Still Being Sorted Out
Exactly how prosecutors have charged Martes is not entirely clear from available reporting. nj.com reported he was charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child for facilitating child sexual abuse material and a separate second-degree endangering charge for possessing it. Hudson County View, meanwhile, listed the second-degree count as also tied to facilitating the material rather than possessing it, attributing both charges to Mello. Hoodline could not independently resolve which version reflects the final charging document.
Martes was transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility and is awaiting his first court appearance, per the seed reporting on the case. The charges against him are allegations, and no plea or case outcome has been reported.
Multiple Agencies Credited in Investigation
Mello credited the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit, the HCPO Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Colerain Township Police Department with the investigation and arrest, the nj.com account states. The case illustrates how a tip from an out-of-state police department can set a local New Jersey investigation in motion months before an arrest follows.
Part of a Broader Pattern on Gaming Platforms
Cases involving adults contacting children through Roblox and similar platforms have surfaced elsewhere. In New York, a 12-year-old girl reportedly received inappropriate images and texts through Roblox in a case involving a Newark, New York resident; <a href="https://waynetimes.com/news/newark-man-arrested-for-sending-indecent-images-and-texts-to-12-year-old-canadian-girl/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>The Times of Wayne County identified the suspect, Brayden J. Bergfjord, as 21, while 13WHAM reported his age as 20. That outlet said investigators determined Bergfjord met the victim through Roblox and sent sexually explicit images and videos of himself while attempting to solicit explicit pictures from the child.
Nationally, the scale of reports involving online enticement of children has grown sharply. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said its CyberTipline received more than 186,800 reports of online enticement in 2023, a figure the organization said represented a jump of more than 300% from 2021. By 2025, NCMEC reported receiving 1.4 million reports concerning online enticement, including more than 80,000 involving sextortion, though the organization has noted that a 2024 federal reporting-law change affected how those later figures compare to prior years. NCMEC’s numbers reflect reports made to its CyberTipline and do not by themselves indicate how many unique victims or incidents are represented in any single case, including this one.
Hudson County/North Jersey-Crime & Emergencies
