A cyber tip led to the arrest of a 44-year-old Williamstown man for distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material (CCSAM), according to Gloucester County Prosecutor Andrew B. Johns.
Michael S. Schmitt was arrested at his home on Aug. 27 and has been charged by complaint with second-degree distribution of CSAM and third-degree possession of CSAM. He is lodged in the Salem County Correctional Facility pending a detention hearing, according to the prosecutor.
The tip – from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children – alleged that a user was distributing CSAM over a social-media platform. Detectives from the prosecutor’s High Tech Crimes Unit executed a search warrant at Schmitt’s residence on July 17. Several electronic devices allegedly belonging to him were seized, and a subsequent search of those devices revealed CSAM files, as well as evidence that the devices had been used to access a social-media account related to the original cyber tip.
