Matthew Robles (Photo: Ocean County Jail)
A registered sex offender will be heading to jail for five years as a result of failing to register his employment at a Brick Township business under Meghan’s Law, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said Monday.
Matthew Robles, 32, of Lakewood, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan to a seven-year term in New Jersey state prison with a five-year period of parole ineligibility. He is currently being held at the Ocean County Jail, awaiting transportation to a state facility.
According to the state’s Meghan’s Law database, Robles initially was charged with a sex offense in 2018, when he sexually assaulted a victim while watching television with her while her parents were out of the room. He is considered a “Level 2,” or “moderate risk” offender.
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According to prosecutors, Robles previously entered a guilty plea for distributing child pornography, and was added to the state’s list of sex offenders under Meghan’s Law, which requires sex offenders to notify authorities of changes of addresses, employment, vehicles and other information. Robles has also had one convicted of failing to register as a sex offender, for which he was sentenced to three years in prison, thought that sentence will run concurrently with the longer, seven-year sentence.
An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Megan’s Law Unit revealed that Robles – a Megan’s Law registrant under the supervision of the New Jersey Division of Parole – had been employed at a local business establishment in Brick Township without registering or notifying any law enforcement agencies. The business was not named in the statement from prosecutors.
Since 1994, Megan’s Law requires certain offenders to register with their local police departments whenever they move and/or change their residential address or place of employment.
On July 26, 2022, Officers from the Division of Parole conducted a home visit and discovered images of child pornography on Robles’ cellular phone. Robles was taken into custody and transported to the Ocean County Jail for various violations of his parole. All of Robles’ electronic devices were seized by law enforcement for forensic examination purposes.
Two days later, detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit executed a court-authorized search warrant on Robles’ electronic devices. As a result, Detectives discovered that Robles had been uploading and sharing images of child pornography on the internet by way of the WhatsApp application. On Aug. 5, 2022, Robles was served with a complaint initially charging him with failure to register as a sex offender. On August 8, 2022, Robles was served with an additional complaint charging him with distribution of child pornography. Robles was originally lodged in state prison as a result of his parole violations. On July 25, 2023, Robles was transported to the Ocean County Jail, where he was detained until sentencing.
