WOODBINE – A 71-year-old borough man was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography after a law enforcement task force executed a search warrant at his home, authorities said.
Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland and Chief of County Detectives Mike Emmer announced that Douglas Gotthold, of Franklin Street, was arrested on the charge.
The investigation began with a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an individual, subsequently identified as Gotthold, had images of child sexual abuse on his computer.
On Friday, March 1, a search warrant was executed at Gotthold’s residence by members of a multi-jurisdictional task force. As a result, it was determined that Gotthold possessed/viewed child sexual abuse materials. Six computers were seized from the residence and are undergoing analysis.
Gotthold was arrested and charged with third-degree endangering the welfare of a child/possession of child pornography. He is currently lodged in the Cape May County Correctional Facility, pending court proceedings.
An individual found guilty of a third-degree crime is subject to a prison term of three to five years.
Sutherland thanked the New Jersey State Police-Woodbine Barracks and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations-Atlantic City for their assistance in the investigation, part of the ongoing effort by the Prosecutor’s Office’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the New Jersey State Police ICAC Task Force, which investigate and prosecute individuals involved in the exploitation of children.
The prosecutor urged citizens of Cape May County to report any information regarding child exploitation or any criminal activity within the community to the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-465-1135, anonymously on the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office website at cmcpo.tips, or by contacting Cape May County Crime Stoppers at 609-889-3597.
