Rider guard, firefighter posed as girl to get child porn, cops say
BORDENTOWN CITY — A security guard at Rider University who also serves as a city fire captain is facing several charges, including that he posed as a teenage girl when talking to young boys in order to get them to send him illicit pictures and videos, police said.
Alan J. Berman, 58, was arrested on Friday morning when a search warrant was executed at his home, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said.
Berman is charged with posing as a girl while trying to get a teen boy to send him pictures and videos. He is also accused of having "sexually-explicit conversations" with the boy, and possessing child porn, according to the prosecutor.
The search warrant at Berman's city home was issued after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children contacted the prosecutor's office's High-Tech Crimes unit. A woman in Arkansas had alerted the national center that her son had been contacted by a man, who was later identified as Berman, Coffina said. Police took a cell phone, tablet and other digital devices from Berman's home.
Rider spokeswoman Kristine Brown said Berman has been employed with the university since last August and is now on administrative leave. She said all public safety employees pass a background check before being hired.
Berman has been charged with one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and three third-degree counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He is scheduled for a detention hearing later this week.
Coffina encouraged anyone with information about the case to call 609-265-5035 and ask for a detective with the High-Tech Crimes Unit.