Hightstown Man Charged with Child Pornography Possession

A Hightstown man is having his initial court appearance on Wednesday, May 8 on child pornography charges in New Jersey. Fredy Arbito, 31, was arrested in Panama and returned to the United States in early April where he was arrested by special agents from the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced Wednesday.

According to court documents, Arbito was knowingly in possession of at least three images of child pornography as early as Jan. 28 of this year. Emails of a sexual nature were reportedly sent by Arbito to a 14-year-old girl in Ecuador, court documents said. The information was traced back to an account at Arbito’s address in Hightstown.

The criminal complaint against Arbito said that he allegedly struck up an online friendship over MSN Messenger service with the 14-year-old girl while posing as a young girl living in Colombia. The friendship began in July 2011. They communicated over email, video chats, and Facebook and the young girl appeared nude during some of the video chat sessions which Arbito allegedly sent to some of the girls’ friends. The IP address from these emails were traced to Arbito’s home in Hightstown.

Along with pictures of the young girl from Ecuador, other various images of child pornography were found on Arbito’s computer equipment. Possessing child pornography carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He is scheduled to make his initial appearance Wednesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne J. Bongiovanni in Trenton federal court.