Man Shared Child Sexual Abuse Images Online: Barnegat Police

BARNEGAT, NJ — A West Creek man is accused of having child sexual abuse images on his phone and sharing them with others via Snapchat, Barnegat police said.

Aiden Grady, 22, is charged with distribution of child sexual abuse material, possession of child sexual abuse material and computer criminal activity, police said.

Police found that Grady was sharing images through Snapchat conversations, along with images stored on his cell phone.

He also gained access to an educational database where he did not have authorization and communicated with a student, police said. It was unclear how he gained access.

Grady is married to the former youth director of Bayside Chapel in Barnegat. However, the non-denominational church emphasized that the incident has nothing to do with them.

Bayside Chapel posted the following on Facebook on Wednesday.

"We want to speak clearly:

• This situation is not connected to Bayside Chapel or our student ministry.
• No Bayside students were involved.
• Aiden's last time volunteering with our youth was in November 2023, and both he and his family were no longer serving at Bayside when this became public."

The church added that they take the safety of children seriously and have a number of protections in place.

"In this season, we have doubled down by updating our policies for social media, texting, leader boundaries, and overall ministry practices," Bayside Chapel said. "Because we believe the church should be the safest place in the world for students to grow and thrive!"

Barnegat police also used this incident to share a message with parents.

"This arrest comes as a reminder with the start of a new school year for parents to be observant of their child's cell phone use and the dangers of certain social media applications," police said.