Convicted Ocean County sex offender arrested for soliciting nude photos
A convicted sex offender from Ocean County found himself back in jail on Wednesday on charges that he allegedly persuaded a minor to send him vulgar pictures and asked the child to engage in inappropriate behavior over an online messaging service, announced U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito.
David Frew, 41, of Little Egg Harbor is charged by complaint with one count of sexual exploitation of a child, one count of online enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual conduct and one count of receipt of child pornography.
Frew appeared in Trenton federal court on Wednesday afternoon.
Court documents cited by Carpenito show that in June of 2017 Frew used an online messaging service to communicate with a minor victim.
At Frew’s request, the minor victim sent Frew sexually explicit images, including images of the victim’s genitalia.
In 2008, Frew was convicted of three counts of unlawful contact with a minor and one count of criminal use of a computer in Pennsylvania after sending sexually explicit photos or videos to investigators in the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit, who were posing online as underage girls.
Frew was also convicted in New Jersey in 2008 of endangering the welfare of children.
As a result of his prior convictions in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Frew was a registered sex offender at the time of his conduct charged in the complaint.
With Frew being a previously convicted sex offender, the sexual exploitation charge is punishable by a mandatory minimum penalty of 25 years in prison and a statutory maximum potential penalty of 50 years in prison, along with a $250,000 fine, counting one of Frew’s prior convictions; or a mandatory minimum penalty of 35 years in prison and a statutory maximum potential penalty of life in prison, along with a $250,000 fine, counting two or more of Frew’s prior convictions.
The charge of online enticement carries a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Due to Frew being a previously convicted sex offender, the charge of receipt of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, a statutory maximum potential penalty of 40 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander E. Ramey of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.
Defense counsel: Benjamin West Esq., Trenton, New Jersey.
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