Fair Lawn Man Scooped Up in Child Porn Sting

A Fair Lawn man is accused of possessing and distributing child pornography, Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced Wednesday.

Ernest Okhtenberg, 39, was among 25 people arrested as part of a three-month multi-agency operation aimed at stamping out collectors and distributors of child pornography, including child rape videos. 

Okhtenberg, like the other men charged, was found to be in possession of multiple sexually explicit videos of young children that he shared with others over the internet, authorities said.

“Anyone who views and distributes child pornography – particularly the type of child rape videos targeted in this operation – puts himself in league with the predators who sexually assault children to create these videos,” Chiesa said. “The children they watch being tortured are violated again by their actions, and these offenders may pose a danger to other children because of their predilections."

More than 50 officers and dozens of law enforcement agencies, including the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and Fair Lawn Police Department, took part in the effort, dubbed Operation Ever Vigilant 

The state police's Digital Technology Investigations Unit began the search for New Jersey residents making and distributing files that depict pre-pubescent boys and girls being sexually molested or coerced into performing sexual acts about three months ago, according to a release. 

Those charged range in age from 17 to 66 and live in various parts of the state, including five from Bergen County.

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