Ocean County Man Admits Sexually Abusing Toddler and Streaming Assault Live Over the Internet

TRENTON, NJ—An Ocean County, New Jersey man today admitted sexually abusing a 15-month-old boy and streaming footage of the assault over the Internet, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Rodford W. Brindley, 68, of Toms River, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with one count of sexual exploitation of a child.

Brindley engaged in online chats with someone who he believed to be a parent living in Ohio, but who was, in fact, a law enforcement officer in Ohio. On one occasion, Brindley engaged in sexually explicit conduct with an approximately 15-month-old child, whom he had in his care at his Toms River home, and streamed live video of that conduct over the Internet to Ohio undercover law enforcement officers.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

The charge of child sexual exploitation is punishable by a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for September 26, 2013.

U.S. Attorney Fishman thanked the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department in Ohio; the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato; and the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, for the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Muoio of the U.S. Attorney’s Trenton Office.