Former EMT And Volunteer Firefighter Charged With Production Of Child Pornography

NEWARK, N.J. – An Iselin, New Jersey, man who worked as an emergency medical technician and volunteer firefighter was charged today with soliciting a child to take nude pictures of himself and send them online, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Zachary Motta, 22, is charged by complaint with one count of sexual exploitation of children. He appeared in Newark federal court today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven C. Mannion and was detained.

According to the complaint:

Beginning in October 2016, Motta engaged in sexually explicit communications with a boy who told Motta that he was 12-years old. Over the course of their correspondence, Motta sent the minor victim images of himself in his EMT and firefighter uniforms and asked the boy to send him nude pictures. Motta warned the boy, “Just don’t get caught.” In response to Motta’s requests, the boy sent Motta nude images of his genitals on two occasions.

The charge of sexual exploitation of a child carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents with the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark, and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Andrew C. Carey, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Alfonzo Walsman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

The charge and allegations in the complaint are merely accusations, and Motta is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Defense counsel: Assistant Federal Public Defender Carol Gillen