Ocean County Man Charged With Creating Child Pornography

Christopher Budelman (Photo courtesy Ocean County Jail)

  BRICK – Police said a local man encouraged minors to perform sexual behavior on video chats, which he then recorded.

  Christopher Budelman, 36, of Brick, was charged with two counts of production of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography.

  Police said that in June of 2022, he enticed at least two minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct while he was on a video chat site with them. He saved those video chats on his computer.

  Additionally, from September 2021 to June 2022, police said he used two Kik Messenger accounts to send images and videos of child pornography to others.

  He faces 15-30 years in prison for each charge of sexual exploitation, in addition to a $250,000 fine. The charge of distributing child pornography brings with it five-20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

  U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger credited special agents of Homeland Security Investigations Newark, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert Kurtz; the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit, under the direction of Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer; the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Superintendent Col. Patrick J. Callahan; and Brick Township Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Forrester, with the investigation leading to the charges.

  Charges are merely accusations until proven in a court of law.