Newark Man Allegedly Produced Child Porn, Kidnapped Young Girl

A Newark man who authorities said produced child pornography and kidnapped a preteen girl was arraigned in Newark Tuesday, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said.

Pedro Rios, 57, appeared at the Essex County Veterans Courthouse on charges of endangering the welfare of a child, hindering apprehension and kidnapping. Additional charges may be filed as the investigation continues.

Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Deborah Freier, who is handling the case, said the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Cyber Crimes Unit identified Rios during an investigation of online child pornography.

Rios, a truck driver who also operated a video production business out of his Park Avenue home, allegedly produced sexually explicit images of children at the house and inside his tractor-trailer. 
 
Rios also allegedly kidnapped a girl, now age 12, and sexually assaulted her somewhere outside Essex County. Kathy Carter, an prosecutor’s office spokesperson, declined to say precisely where that occurred. 

Rios is believed to have fled the state sometime in early February after learning of the investigation. He was captured by agents of the United States Marshal’s Service Feb. 13, in Santa Ana, Calif.  and extradited back to New Jersey on Feb. 27. He has been housed since then in the Hudson County Jail.
 
He entered a not guilty plea to all charges today. He is currently being held on $725,000 bail in Hudson County.
 
Acting Prosecutor Carolyn Murray is asking anyone with information to call the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office tips line at 1-877-847-7432.