Sheriff Candidate Mastrangelo:
ESSEX COUNTY NEEDS
INTERNET CRIME UNIT

Codey Legislation to Protect Children Online
Highlights Need for Law Enforcement Focus

(Cedar Grove, NJ) -- Detective Rich Mastrangelo, candidate for Essex County Sheriff, applauded Senate President and former Governor Richard Codey today for introducing a strong package of bills aimed at increasing penalties for online child predators. Yet Mastrangelo also pointed out that legislation is only a dead letter if there is not an active effort made towards enforcement. Faced with a lack of focus on online predators by Essex County law enforcement, Mastrangelo vowed today to form an Internet Child Safety Unit if elected to the Sheriff's Office.

"Child predators are not just in our towns. With the Internet, they are in our living rooms. To keep our children safe, law enforcement has to keep up with the times. That is why Essex County needs an Internet Crimes Unit. Other counties have already shown how successful such units can be. Just last month the Westchester DA nabbed a predator who lived right here in Cedar Grove," said Mastrangelo, a decorated police officer with 23 years experience.

The Cedar Grove man arrested last month by the NY Westchester County District Attorney's High Technology Crimes Bureau is charged with the felony of disseminating indecent material to a minor. After having sexually explicit conversations online with what he thought was a 15-year-old girl, he made arrangements to meet "her". He met up instead with Westchester detectives waiting to arrest him.

"Not many officers are needed for this kind of unit. Just a handful of detectives with the right skills can regularly run stings to catch these predators. All the Sheriff's Office needs is a leader with the vision to get it started," Mastrangelo added. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, with only four detectives from the office in the unit, has had much success with its Computer Crimes Task Force. "With our county's high population and high proportion of kids online, we can't afford not to focus on Internet Child Safety."

"Unfortunately, Sheriff Fontoura has not taken any steps to confront this new type of crime threatening our families. The Sheriff has not been able to keep up with the changes in the world around him," Mastrangelo noted. When Fontoura entered office, the World Wide Web had not yet even been invented. The Sheriff's Office's own website hasn't seen an update since 1997.

"Sheriff Fontoura is unprepared for the new challenges facing our county. With new threats, Essex needs a new Sheriff. After 16 years, it's time for a change."

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CONTACT: Rob Zwigard
(973) 714-9753 cell
Jack Grimes
(908) 887-2268 cell