A New Jersey sergeant has been indicted for allegedly obtaining images of child sexual abuse from an investigation and keeping them for his personal use, Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced Wednesday.
Christopher Ortiz, 39, of Estell Manor, is accused of using his position as a law enforcement agent to obtain more than a dozen items showing child sexual exploitation and abuse — evidence associated with a case the department was investigating.
Ortiz, a sergeant with the Vineland Police Department, has been suspended without pay for just over a year.
He was arrested on March 21, 2023, on a charge of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child by “allegedly possessing multiple images of minors engaged in sexually explicit acts.” The state’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) acted on a tip received from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
On Wednesday, the attorney general said a state grand jury voted to indict him on three counts: endangering the welfare of a child by possessing child sexual exploitation/abuse material, official misconduct and tampering with public records.
The indictment, which follows a year-long investigation, alleges that Ortiz requested from a subordinate at least 17 items containing explicit images of children, which he received via email.
He also “possessed, viewed, or had under his control at least 100 items depicting the sexual exploitation or abuse of children,” the indictment further claims.
Calling the allegations against Ortiz “deeply troubling,” Platkin said misappropriation of evidence by any officer is a “dishonor to the profession and a betrayal of the community’s trust.”
However, given the nature of the evidence in this case, Ortiz’s alleged crime is “particularly disturbing.”
“Possessing this type of material is a crime,” OPIA Executive Director Thomas J. Eicher said. “And when the suspect is a police officer, it raises serious public safety concerns.”
