Manchester Man Met Child On Social Media, Then Flew To Norway For Sex With Her, FBI Says

TRENTON, NJ — A Manchester Township man is facing federal charges after he traveled to Norway to have sex with a 14-year-old girl, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.

Jacob Bauer, 28, has been charged with traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place, according to the federal complaint. He made his initial court appearance on April 2 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rukhsanah L. Singh in federal court in Trenton, officials said.

According to the complaint, Bauer flew from the United States to Norway and in December 2023, spending four days in a hotel there, where he had sex with the girl on at least one occasion.

When he returned to New Jersey, he had conversations on Discord with other people telling them about his sexual activities with the victim, according to the complaint.

He also stayed in contact with the victim and told her as recently as February that he wanted to fly to Norway to have sex with her again, the complaint said.

During his conversations with others and the victim, Bauer acknowledged the victim’s age and status as a minor, the complaint said.

After members of an online community that Bauer was active in learned of his sexual activities with a minor, Bauer was "doxxed" — his public information published online — by members of that community, the complaint said.

The complaint said the investigation began in April 2024 after authorities received a tip about Bauer's activities, and traced his activities through multiple Discord accounts, before filing the complaint and arresting him.

"The conduct here is as reprehensible as it is egregious," U.S. Attorney Alina Habba said. "A then-27-year-old male took pains to plan international travel from New Jersey to Norway for the purpose of having sex with a 14-year-old girl. These charges underscore how we are standing up for the most vulnerable and will not tolerate the sexual abuse of children."

"I commend our partners at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, law enforcement members at the state and local levels, and our international partners who assisted with this investigation," Habba said.

"We have federal laws protecting children because they cannot defend themselves," said Terence G. Reilly, Newark FBI Special Agent in Charge. "Most of these investigations go unnoticed because we do all we can to protect the innocent victims. However, the work FBI Newark agents and task force officers are doing should be heralded by all of us. Day in and day out they are saving children who shouldn't have to experience unspeakable horrors and abuse perpetrated by child sexual predators."

The complaint lists Bauer as a Toms River resident; online records show him living at an address in Pine Lake Park.

Each of the charges carries a potential maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

The FBI received assistance in the investigation from the New Brunswick Police Department; the Manchester Township Police Department; the FBI Legal Attaché Office, U.S. Embassy, Copenhagen, Denmark, the FBI Legal Attaché Office, U.S. Embassy, Warsaw, Poland; the Jackson County, Georgia Sheriff's Office; INTERPOL; the Norwegian Politiet, Troms District; the Norwegian Politiet, NC3 KRIPOS, and the Poland Policja CBZC, Central Cybercrime Bureau.