Ocean Co. Attorney Had Child Sex Abuse Material, Prosecutor Says

BERKELEY, NJ — An Ocean County attorney was caught sending and receiving child sexual abuse images via Snapchat, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Robert Shea, II, was charged with distributing child sexual abuse material and possession of child sexual abuse material, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Shea, a Berkeley resident, is the son of prominent local attorney Robert C. Shea. He works for his father's law firm and also serves as the Jackson Township Planning Board attorney.

Jackson Mayor Jennifer Kuhn said in a statement that she was "horrified" by the allegations and called for his removal from the township planning board.

"I am also moving to terminate the township's relationship with Mr. Shea's law firm effective immediately," Kuhn said. "On a personal level, I've known Mr. Shea and his family for years and today's allegations are a complete and utter shock to me, as I am sure they are to many others across Ocean County."

The New Jersey State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that someone was sending and receiving child sexual abuse images on Snapchat, Billhimer said.

An investigation found IP addresses associated with a Berkeley home and a Toms River office building as locations where that person was accessing and sending child sexual abuse images, Billhimer said. That person was identified as Shea.

On Oct. 22, detectives searched Shea's home and found numerous images of child sexual abuse material on multiple cellphones owned by Shea, Billhimer said.

Another search warrant was executed on the Toms River office building, where another cellphone belonging to Shea had the Snapchat application he used to send a child sexual abuse image, with the image itself also being on the phone, Billhimer said.

Shea was taken into custody and now sits in Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.