Little Egg Employee Charged In 'Operation Open House'

TOMS RIVER, NJ -A public works employee in Little Egg Harbor Township is one of the 24 defendants charged in Operation Open House - an undercover program designed to ferret out child sex abusers who use social media to find victims, according to state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal.

Joshua Rauter, 31, thought he was meeting a 14-year-old girl. Instead he met with an undercover officer. He was charged with third-degree attempted debauching morals of a child and the attempted showing of obscene material to a minor, authorities said.

Many of the defendants in Operation Open House were arrested at the undercover house in Toms River – a four-bedroom home – while a few were arrested at other meet-up locations or were stopped in their cars after driving to the vicinity of those locations. according to the release.

Those who went to the undercover house allegedly expected to find their victims home alone. Instead, they were arrested upon arrival, sometimes by teams that included the very officer who portrayed the child they targeted for sex.

The undercover house was staffed with dozens of law enforcement officers and evidence technicians. Attorneys were stationed nearby at the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, according to the release.

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