Robert Lasher (Photo: Ocean County Jail)
A Brick Township man has pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing child pornography, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Robert Lasher, 71, of Brick, entered his plea before Superior Court Judge Linda G. Baxter Wednesday. At the time of his sentencing – the date of which has yet to be formally scheduled – prosecutors will be recommending a term of 364 days in the Ocean County Jail, as well as parole supervision for life.
The investigation leading to the charge was the result of a referral from the New Jersey State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The ICAC Task Force received cyber-tips from a national center, which led the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit to identify an IP address associated with a Brick Township residence as the location from which an individual was uploading images of child pornography. That individual was ultimately identified as Lasher.
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On July 2, 2024, detectives from the prosecutor’s office, Homeland Security and Brick police, executed a court- authorized search warrant on Lasher’s residence. An initial forensic examination of Lasher’s electronic devices led to the discovery of “several items of child pornography,” prosecutors said. Lasher was taken into custody at his residence; he was transported to the Ocean County Jail and subsequently released under New Jersey’s bail reform statute.
