A 19-year-old <a href="https://comicvibe.com/east-newark-man-19-charged-in-roblox-child-exploitation-case/” title=”East Newark Man, 19, Charged in Roblox Child Exploitation Case”>East Newark man faces multiple charges after authorities say he contacted a 12-year-old girl through a gaming app and instructed her to create and send child sexual abuse material.
Benjamin Martes was arrested Friday at his residence and charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child by facilitating child sexual abuse material and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child by possessing child sexual abuse material, Hudson County Prosecutor Wayne Mello announced Monday. Martes remains at the Hudson County Correctional Facility pending his first court appearance.
The investigation began in June 2026 when the Colerain Township Police Department in Ohio contacted the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit. Ohio law enforcement determined the juvenile victim had met an individual through the gaming application Roblox who instructed her to create and send child sexual abuse material.
Investigators identified Martes as the individual who contacted the victim. A search of his electronic devices found child sexual abuse material, Mello said.
Mello credited the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Colerain Township Police Department with the investigation and arrest.
Martes is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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