EHT Man Arrested in Child Pornography Trafficking

Published
June 10, 2009

An Egg Harbor Township man was arrested and charged Wednesday with dissemination of child pornography and possession of hollow-point ammunition, Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel announced.

It is alleged that Steven Chalakee, 22, used the “Peer 2 Peer” Network LimeWire, an Internet program that allows for the sharing of files between its users, to make numerous images and videos of child pornography available to other users. Members of the Oklahoma City Office of the FBI initiated the investigation. They contacted the Prosecutor’s Office where the transmissions were traced to Chalakee’s home in the 6500 block of Delilah Road in Egg Harbor Township.

Authorities executed a search warrant today and seized a computer and various other items believed to be related to the alleged crimes. They also seized multiple firearms and hollow-point bullets, ammunition prohibited in New Jersey.

Chalakee is employed at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) in Egg Harbor Township as a trash collector. He is also a volunteer firefighter in Egg Harbor Township. Chalakee was at work at the time law enforcement searched his residence. At 3 p.m. today Prosecutor’s Office Detectives with the Computer Crimes Unit, approached Chalakee while he was on a waste disposal truck in Ventnor. He was arrested without incident.

Chalakee’s arrest was a result of a four-month-long investigation by the FBI with later assistance by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.

The dissemination of child pornography is a second-degree crime, which carries a prison term of up to 10 years.