Ocean County, NJ, Man Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Charges

Authorities in Ocean County say a man from Lakewood has pleaded guilty to child porn-related charges.

32-year-old Matthew Robles is now potentially facing seven years in state prison for distribution of child pornography and failure to register as a Megan’s Law offender.

An investigation by the Megan's Law Unit with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office revealed that Robles, a Megan’s Law registrant, was working at a business in Brick Township without registering or notifying any law enforcement agencies.

Since 1994, Megan’s Law requires certain offenders to register with their local police departments whenever they move and/or change their address or employment.

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According to officials,

• On July 26, 2022, officers from the Division of Parole conducted a home visit and discovered images of child pornography on Robles' cell phone. He was taken into custody and transported to the Ocean County Jail for various violations of his parole. All of Robles' electronic devices were seized by law enforcement for forensic examination purposes.

• Two days later, detectives executed a search warrant on Robles' electronic devices and found he had been uploading and sharing images of child pornography on the internet by way of the WhatsApp app.

• On August 5th, Robles was served with a complaint initially charging him with failure to register as a sex offender.

• On August 8th, he was served with the complaint in connection with a distribution of child pornography charge.

Robles will remain in prison until his sentencing.

At that time, the State will be recommending a term of seven years, with a five-year period of parole ineligibility, for the child porn charge and a term of three years on the failure to register charge; both sentences would run concurrently.