Feds: N.J. Man Charged In Child Porn Probe; Discussed Kidnapping, Raping & Eating Kids
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A New Jersey man was charged Tuesday with luring a teenage boy to Pennsylvania for sex as well as possessing child pornography on his home computer, authorities said.
Web Extra: Court Document (Warning: graphic details, language)
Robert Mucha, 56, of Newton, N.J., was charged with one count of enticing a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.
If convicted he faces up to life in prison.
These charges are the latest in an international child pornography probe that has resulted in numerous arrests worldwide, led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE).
Mucha was arrested at his home July 26, and was charged at the time with a single count of possessing child pornography, authorities said. He has been detained by law enforcement since his arrest.
According to court documents, using Yahoo Messenger, Mucha talked regularly with a number of individuals who shared his sexual fascination with child cannibalism, authorities said.
Among Mucha's chat partners was Michael D. Arnett, who was arrested and charged in May for production of child pornography by the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Kansas, authorities said.
Mucha and Arnett discussed their mutual interest in kidnapping, raping and eating children on several occasions, authorities said.
According to court documents, the men discussed, in vivid and often gruesome detail, among other things, penetrative sex with infants, child bestiality, parent-on-child rape, strangulation of toddlers, and eroticized child cannibalism.
Many of their communications focused on the cooking and eating of prepubescent boys, with a particular interest in how they might abduct the children, drug them, roast them and, ultimately, consume them, according to court documents.
According to authorities, In Oct. 2010, Mucha convinced a 15-year-old boy to travel from New Jersey to Pennsylvania to spend the day with him and then sleep over at Mucha's apartment in Stroudsburg, Pa.
After he was arrested in July, authorities said Mucha admitted to sexual contact with the teenager.
After his arrest, Mucha also admitted his interest in eroticized child cannibalism, authorities said.
Prior to his arrest, Mucha worked as a volunteer emergency medical technician in Andover, N.J. He also previously taught band and Bugle Corps to teenagers in Belleville and Lakewood, N.J.
In a statement after his arrest, Mucha also admitted that over the course of his life he has touched hundreds of boys for his own sexual gratification, authorities said.
According to additional court documents throughout the United States, Arnett was communicating with numerous child pornography suspects, in addition to Mucha.
Five of those suspects were also arrested and charged as part of this international child pornography investigation.
Mucha is or was a member of several websites that cater to cannibalism and necrophilism fetishes, authorities said.
This investigation is also part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers.
"Child exploitation crimes victimize the most vulnerable members of our society," said Andrew McLees special agent in charge of HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) Newark. "The victimization of children for sexual purposes is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, which is why HSI will continue to be relentless in pursuing child predators."
HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form.
Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.
