A Somers Point man pleaded guilty Wednesday to distribution of child sexual abuse material.
Roger Tees, 74, was arrested in November on third-degree charges of possession and second-degree distribution of child pornography charges.
A week earlier, he stepped down from his post as deputy director of the city’s Office of Emergency Management.
Tees used his Yahoo account to save the sexual abuse material to his Cloud account. Yahoo scanned the content, and reported it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, sparking the investigation by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office High-Tech Crimes Unit.
The investigation found Tees shared videos and photographs depicting children engaged in
prohibited sexual acts through Telegram, a popular instant message and file-sharing application.
More than 480 items were found, Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Remy told the judge during a detention hearing Nov. 15, when Tees was ordered held in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
Tees previously served as Galloway Township manager, but was ousted in 2011. Before that, he headed Pleasantville’s Urban Enterprise Zone.
The investigation did not reveal any evidence that Tees engaged in prohibited conduct while working in an official capacity with Somers Point or any other role as a public servant, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said.
Tees faces a recommended sentence of four years in prison under the plea agreement. He would then be subject to parole supervision for life and have to register as a Megan's Law offender.
He remains jailed. His sentencing is scheduled for May 9.
