MONMOUTH COUNTY – Since January 2022, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office have made a total of 14 arrests and also two recent sentencings in connection to incidents involving child sexual abuse material, officials said.
The following have been criminally charged:
Earl Grant, 40, of Neptune, was arrested on January 21 and is charged with one count of third-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials).Michael Hernandez, 21, of Colts Neck, was arrested on February 24, and is charged with one count of third-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials).Stephen Galiatsatos, 38, Neptune Township, who was employed as a ride share driver, was arrested on March 10 and is charged with one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials).Jeffery Hitt, 74, of Middletown, who is retired, was arrested on March 21 and is charged with one count of third-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials) and one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Materials).Michael Mezzina, 61, of Holmdel Township, was arrested on March 29 after the Holmdel Township Police Department received a report from an electronics store employee that child sexual abuse materials were found on a laptop that Mezzina dropped off for repair. Mezzina was charged with one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials).William Grimmer, 58, of Ocean Township, was arrested on April 21 and charged with third-degree Endangering the Welfare of a child (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials).Yang Chen, 27, of Aberdeen Township, was arrested on April 14 and is charged with one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials).Ryan Cutaneo, 22, of Howell, was arrested on April 28 and is charged with one count of third-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials).Calvin Martinez, 31, of Ocean Township, was arrested on May 12 and is charged with one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials).Santiago Reyes-Carrada, 30, of Keyport, was arrested on May 5 and is charged with one count of third-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials).Brian Flynn, 31, of Hazlet, a sales representative, was arrested on May 24; following an investigation, it was discovered that he used peer-to-peer file-sharing software to create child pornography files available to others online. Flynn is charged with one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, second-degree (Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Materials) and one count of third-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials).Kenneth Ayala, 21, of Hazlet Township, was arrested on May 25 and is charged with one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials).Osama Hassaballa, 37, of Ocean Township, a taxi driver, was arrested on June 9, and is charged with one count of third-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials).Brian Picardi, 60, of Keansburg, who was arrested on June 16 and is charged with one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Child Sexual Abuse Materials).
Since 2020, about 550 CyberTips have resulted in a total of 77 arrests in Monmouth County, officials said.
Convictions on second-degree charges of this nature are punishable by up to 10 years in state prison; convictions on third-degree charges of this nature are punishable by up to five years. Either would also result in defendants being registered under Megan’s Law and assigned Parole Supervision for life.
Additionally, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced the sentencings of two defendants which took place on July 29:
John V. Catalano, 36, of Nottingham Way in Freehold, was sentenced to five years in a New Jersey State Prison for second-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child – Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Materials, to include two and a half years mandatory parole ineligibility and mandatory Megan’s Law registration. Catalano pleaded guilty to the second-degree charge on February 9.
On September 9, 2019, Catalano was charged after authorities found him over 25 images of child sexual abuse material.
The second sentencing, involved Barton Cross-Tierney 2nd, 32, of Ocean Township, who received three years for third-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child and three years for third-degree Exhibiting Obscenity to a Minor. These two sentences will run concurrently. Upon release, Cross-Tierney faces mandatory Megan’s Law registration and Parole Supervision for Life. Cross-Tierney pleaded guilty to the two charges on February 9.
In December 2018, a juvenile contacted the FBI tipline and reported that she had engaged in an inappropriate online relationship with an adult male from Ocean, NJ. Cross-Tierney has used the online platform Discord to video chat with the victim and committed sexual acts. Additionally, he was in contact with another minor and engaged in sexual acts while in a video chat with that victim.
The Monmouth County ICAC Task Force includes members of the MCPO and the following police departments: Aberdeen, Belmar, Bradley Beach, Eatontown, Fair Haven, Highlands, Holmdel, Howell, Keyport, Manalapan, Marlboro, Middletown, Ocean Township, Red Bank, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, Tinton Falls, Wall and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations; the Task Force also receives investigative support from the police departments in Colts Neck, Highlands, Hazlet, Howell, Union Beach, Neptune, Keansburg, Red Bank, West Long Branch, Ocean Township, as well as members from the New Jersey Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory.
Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.
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