A 13-year-old boy has been charged in the sexual assault of a 10-year-old boy that was posted on Snapchat over the weekend.
The teen, whose name is not being released due to his age, is charged with two counts each of first-degree aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, Capt. Cherie Burgan said.
He is currently housed in a juvenile detention center.
The victim's father told BreakingAC that the assault happened in the Egg Harbor Township home of a female relative who had been left to take care of the man's children.
Her son is the alleged perpetrator.
BreakingAC was forwarded the video by multiple readers hoping to find help for the child. A sexual act does take place.
The joint investigation involves Egg Harbor Township police and members of the Special Victims Unit of the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office.
The video was reportedly viewed and circulated among high school and middle school students in the township, Burgan said.
Schools Superintendent Kim Gruccio alerted parents to the "disturbing, inappropriate video of children" in an email sent out Sunday evening.
She confirmed that the offender was located.
Police were inundated with calls about the video over the weekend, according to law enforcement sources.
The victim's parents were on a trip for their anniversary and received a call Friday night, the father said.
"The detective and (the Division of Child Protection and Permanency) called us, and that’s when I threw up," he said.
The father, who BreakingAC is not naming to protect the victim's identity, said he believes the perpetrator's mother was aware of similar behavior by her son in the past.
The young victim is now afraid to sleep, his father said.
“I had a dream he got out of jail and came after me," the man said his son told him, asking, "Why did he do that to me?"
The investigation is ongoing.
The video has been removed by Snapchat, but police know that there are other versions of it that they believe continue to be shared.
"We ask that parents report the video to Snapchat should you find it circulating at this time," Burgan said.
Anyone with copies of the video should destroy or delete it, including from any uploaded backups, police warn.
"As with any other incident where pornographic images of children are shared; retention of this video or images could result in charges related to the same," Burgan said.
Police are asking parents to have conversations with their children so that they know they can bring things like this to their parents' attention without getting into trouble themselves.
"We would also caution parents that the content found on social media sites such as Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook is often uncontrolled and loosely monitored; often containing content that is inappropriate for children to view," Burgan said.
