Grand jury returns 97-count indictment against former Mt. Laurel, NJ, police officer

A grand jury has returned a 97-count indictment against a former Mount Laurel police officer who has been charged with hacking into the social media accounts of nearly two dozen women and distributing nude pictures they kept of themselves.

24-year-old Ayron Taylor of Moorestown is facing the following charges, all of varying degrees:

• 54 counts of elements of computer theft
• 21 counts of endangering the welfare of a child, including distribution of child pornography
• 19 counts of invasion of privacy
• 2 counts of attempted elements of computer theft
• 1 count of official misconduct

According to the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office,

Taylor is charged with accessing their social media accounts without permission, and in several instances, distributing their nude photos to people on their contact lists. The child pornography distribution charges were filed because some of the photos he accessed were taken before the victims became legal adults.

The official misconduct charge applies because some of Taylor's actions occurred while he was on duty as a police officer.

According to authorities, an investigation began in September 2022 after an initial victim contacted Evesham Township police to report that her Snapchat and Facebook accounts had been hacked by an unknown person who then sent nude photos she had taken of herself to her Snapchat contacts, messaged them to her Facebook friends, and posted them on her Facebook wall.

The investigation determined the commonality among all victims was that each one had a student email account through Rowan College at Burlington County [RCBC]. The investigation further determined that Taylor illegally accessed approximately 5,000 RCBC email accounts.

Taylor became a full-time police officer in Mount Laurel after graduating from the police academy in October 2021. He resigned after measures were taken to end his employment.

An arraignment will be held March 11th in Superior Court in Mount Holly and then the case will be scheduled for trial.

The public is reminded that charges are accusations and all persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.