A Toms River 66-year-old who was trusted with babysitting a youngster is now charged with using the child for kiddie porn.

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Rodford W. Brindley was apprehended Monday by Ocean County investigators, acting on information from law enforcement officials in Franklin County, Ohio.

Authorities say that Franklin County detectives engaged in a video chat with Brindley in the course of a separate investigation, and that he didn’t know he was communicating with law enforcement officers.

After uncovering evidence, say investigators, they notified Ocean County’s High Tech Crimes Unit and Crimes Against Children Task Force, which gathered supplemental evidence sufficient to file the charges.

Assisting in the search warrant and arrest were the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department and Criminal Investigation Unit, Toms River Police and New Jersey State Police.

Child endangerment is elevated in this case to a first-degree crime, says Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford, because Brindley was entrusted with the youngster’s care. Child porn production and distribution are second-degree violations and possession is a fourth-degree offense.

Brindley was placed in the Ocean County Jail in Toms River in default of bail, which was set at $750,000 with no 10-percent option by Ocean County Superior Court Judge Frances Hodgson.

The probe is continuing, says Ford, and additional charges may be filed. They’re especially interested in finding parents who have left their children in Brindley’s care.

Anyone with information relevant to the investigation is urged to contact Detective Jay Dotto at the Ocean County Prosecutor’s High Tech Crimes Unit, or Detective Lindsay Woodfield of the Special Victims Unit. The number for both is 732-929-2027..

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