‘Dangerous child predator’ tried to lure boy, AG says – nj.com

A 67-year-old Montclair man was arrested for trying to lure an underage boy for sex and exchanging sexually explicit online messages with minors, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said Tuesday.

Keith F. Matheis faces charges, including luring a child, showing obscene materials to a person under 18 and distribution of child sexual abuse materials, according to prosecutors. Matheis remained held at the Essex County jail after being arrested Monday by state detectives at his home, authorities said.

The charges came after investigators received a tip via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children from an unnamed social media company, which reported that a user, identified as Matheis, allegedly sent child sexual exploitation content to another user using a direct message online, authorities said. Detectives with the state Division of Criminal Justice discovered Matheis had explicit chats with “multiple users” he thought were under 16, authorities said.

No attorney information was listed for Matheis.

The allegations against Matheis include his arranging to meet a suspected minor in Montclair to have sex with him, sending a photo of his genitals to a victim he thought was 15, and sending sexual abuse materials to multiple people, including minors, the Attorney General’s Office said in a release.

“The allegations against Matheis reveal a dangerous child predator and they raise concerns about other potential victims,” Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said in a statement.

“Cases such as this one highlight the need for parents to vigilantly monitor their children’s online activity and educate their children about the potential dangers of social media,” Veronica Allende, director of the state’s Division of Criminal Justice, said. “In addition to pursuing tips from NCMEC, we routinely conduct proactive investigations on social media platforms and peer-to-peer file-sharing networks to identify child predators and offenders distributing child sexual abuse materials.”

Anyone with information can confidentially contact the ICAC Task Force Tipline at 888-648-6007.

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Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com.