Brick Man, 37, Pleads Guilty to Sexually ‘Enticing’ Victims Online

Christopher Budelman (Photo: Ocean County Jail)

A Brick Township man has pleaded guilty to sexual assault in connection with a pattern of disturbing online activities after he lured underage victims via a social media app.

Christopher Budelman, 37, of Brick Township, pled guilty to two counts of sexual assault before Superior Court Judge Kenneth T. Palmer. The incidents occurred during the fall of 2022, prosecutors allege. At the time of his sentencing, the state will be seeking a term of seven years New Jersey state prison as to each count. Budelman would also be subject to the terms of Megan’s Law and Nicole’s Law – which permanently prohibits him from having any contact with his victims – as well as parole supervision for life. The sentences are to run concurrently.

The investigation that led to Budelman’s arrest was the result of a referral from the New Jersey State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The task force “detected that an individual was uploading images of child pornography to the internet” using the Kik Messenger App, the statement said. An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit identified a Kik Messenger user with a Verizon Wireless account as the individual uploading the images of child pornography; that individual was ultimately identified by investigators as Budelman.

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Detectives from the prosecutor’s office, United States Department of Homeland Security, New Jersey State Police K-9 Unit, and Brick Township Police Department, executed a court-authorized search warrant on Budelman’s residence in Brick Township Sept. 27, 2022. As a result, detectives seized a desktop computer with a hard-drive “containing images of child pornography,” the statement said. Detectives subsequently learned that Budelman was out of the country and, as such, he was charged on a warrant and his name was entered into the National Crime Information Center Database.

On Tuesday, Budelman was taken into custody by officers from United States Department of Homeland Security-Investigations Unit at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. Budelman was extradited to Ocean County, but was subsequently freed from jail under the guidelines of New Jersey’s bail reform law, prosecutors said.