Two Men, Including a Student Teacher, Arrested for Child Porn in Burlington County
Authorities say two men, one a student teacher at a high school, have been arrested on child porn charges in Burlington County.
Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina says 22-year-old Matthew Natale of Marlton was charged on March 2nd with three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child (two second-degree and one third-degree) and one count of Tampering with Evidence. The charges involve the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material.
Coffina's office says an investigation revealed that Natale was using e-mail to trade images and videos of pre-pubescent boys.
Natale was released from custody following a court appearance; several conditions were placed on his release, including not being able to use a cell phone or social media. Additionally, Natale can have no unsupervised contact with children and he is no longer allowed to work as a student teacher at Middletown South High School in Monmouth County.
In the second case, 68-year-old Robert Chestnut of Shamong was charged on March 3rd with one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child (third degree). Here, an investigation revealed that Chestnut was searching for and viewing images of pre-pubescent girls on his laptop computer and other digital devices.
Chestnut was released following a court appearance.
Natale and Chestnut join over two dozen other people that have been arrested recently by the prosecutor's office for possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material, along with other more serious offenses.