An Ocean County man who admitted to creating and distributing child pornography last year was sentenced Monday to seven years in state prison, authorities said.
Christopher Budelman, 37, of Brick Township, previously pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault, according to a statement from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
In June 2022, while communicating via an online video chat site, Budelman lured at least two children to engage in sexually explicit conduct while he masturbated, the office said.
He recorded and saved those video chats on his computer, authorities said.
From September 2021 to June 2022, Budelman used two Kik Messenger accounts to send images and videos containing child sexual abuse, including images and videos depicting prepubescent minors, investigators said.
Budelman was out of the country when investigators obtained a search warrant and entered his residence, officials said. He was charged on a warrant and his name was entered into the National Crime Information Center Database.
An examination of Budelman’s computer uncovered nine child porn videos which included recordings of video chats via a free online chat site between Budelman and children depicting them engaged in sexually explicit conduct, authorities said.
On Oct. 4, 2022, Budelman was taken into custody at the John F. Kennedy airport in New York City, the office said. He was extradited to Ocean County Jail and released.
Three months later, Budelman was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and child pornography related offenses before turning himself into authorities, officials said.
Following his second arrest, he has been held at the Ocean County Jail.
Budelman was also charged by federal prosecutors on Sept. 7, 2023, for the same crime and later pleaded guilty to two counts of receipt and one count of distribution of child sexual abuse images, the office said.
He was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for those charges, authorities said.
Budelman’s federal sentence and state prison sentence will run concurrently, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
Stories by Chris Sheldon
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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.