Secaucus, NJ, man paid teen for nude photos

A Secaucus man is facing charges for paying a 15-year-old girl to send him explicit photos.

Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer announced the arrest of Julian A. Suarez, 21, on two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

An investigation was launched after police got a report of a child in Washington Township trading sexually explicit photos for money.

After speaking with the 15-year old victim, they viewed her snapchat account and discovered she had been chatting with an individual calling himself "Jay."

The girl had told "Jay" that she was only 15, but still sent him nearly 100 sexually explicit photos and videos.

In exchange, "Jay" paid her a total of $240.

During the investigation, "Jay" was identified as Julian Suarez, and an arrest warrant was issued.

If convicted, Suarez could face up to five years in prison on each count.

Sextortion Crimes skyrocketing

Law enforcement officials have seen a dramatic increase in crimes involving underage boys and girls sending explicit photos.

The Suarez case does not fit the typical description of "sextortion" since investigators did not mention any coercion, but alerts continue about monitoring what our kids are doing and who they are talking to online.

Sextortion is a form of child sexual exploitation where children are threatened or blackmailed, most often with the possibility of sharing with the public a nude or sexual images of them, by a person who demands additional sexual content, sexual activity or money from the child, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

NCMEX reports a dramatic increase in sextortion cases being reported to their CyberTipline, especially financial sextortion where the offender demands money from the child.

Teenage boys have been the most common targets in these recent cases.

How to get help

If you suspect your child, or any child, is the victim of sextortion or has been sharing explicit photos with anyone, contact your local police department immediately.

Additionally, you can reach out to NCMEC for support at gethelp@ncmec.org or at 1-800-THE-LOST.

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