NJ Man Recorded Girl Changing In Kohl’s, Had Other Sex Abuse Videos

RINGOES, NJ - A North Jersey man was charged this week in connection with recordings of a minor changing in a Kohl’s store, authorities said.

Ron Rothman, 49, of Ringoes, was charged Monday with multiple counts of endangering the welfare of a child and invasion of privacy, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renée Robeson and Raritan Township Police Chief Alfred Payne said in a joint statement. Additional charges are pending the conclusion of the investigation, they said.

The investigation stemmed from a report to Raritan Township police from a female under the age of 13 that, on March 17, an unidentified subject later identified as Rothman, used a cell phone to record her while she was in the changing room at the Route 202 Kohl’s store in Raritan Township.

An investigation later found that Rothman possessed cell phone recordings of the girl while she was in the changing room, police said. An analysis of Rothman’s phone also found images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation or abuse of other children, who have not yet been identified.

A search of Rothman’s residence was executed on Monday by members of the Raritan Township Police Department and the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office, with help from the Hunterdon County S.W.A.T. Team, and members from the New Jersey State Police’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit and K-9 Unit.

Rothman was taken into custody at his residence, with detectives seizing computer hard drives and other computer equipment.

Rothman was held at the Warren County Correctional Center pending his first court appearance scheduled for Tuesday. A motion to detain Rothman has been filed on behalf of the state, police said.

His next appearance will be a pretrial detention hearing scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m.