N.J. sees 74% spike in child pornography arrests since 2020

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The number of people charged with possession of child pornography is rising in New Jersey.

During a news conference Thursday afternoon, Attorney General Matt Platkin, the chief law enforcement agent in the Garden State, said over the past several years there has been an uptick in reports of the number of tips about suspected predatory activity online, which has led to more investigations by New Jersey State Police’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, known as ICAC.

“As a result of these efforts, the number of defendants charged and prosecuted in these cases has significantly increased,” Platkin said.

In 2020, the state’s Division of Criminal Justice charged 232 defendants with child sexual abuse offenses. Last year, 404 suspects were arrested and charged, a 74% increase. A spokesman for the attorney general’s office said that 104 individuals have been arrested and charged with related crimes so far in 2025.

A record number of tips

Lt. Col. Phil Buck said last year, the ICAC received more tips about suspects than ever before.

“Over 20,000, a total of 20,578, we’re expecting more tips to come in this year, and more arrests and prosecutions as a result,” he said.

Why are cases rising?

When Platkin was asked if the number of arrests is increasing because more people are engaging in child pornography activity, or because more resources are being used to catch them, he said child sexual abuse and exploitation of children is unfortunately not new.

“But what has worked is increasing awareness, encouraging reporting and then when those reports come in, having the people in place, the law enforcement officers and the prosecutors, to hold them accountable,” he said.

When pressed on whether there are more individuals possessing and distributing child pornography, he said technology has its benefits and its downside.

“One of the downsides of technology, and particularly with kids on technology and the proliferation of smartphones and apps, is people have tried to take advantage of our youngest residents, but the flip side of that is what we are doing is working.”