South Jersey police officer charged with possessing explicit images of juveniles

VINELAND, New Jersey (WPVI) -- A Vineland police officer has been arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child by allegedly possessing images of minors engaged in explicit acts.

Sgt. Christopher Ortiz, 38, is suspended without pay after being arrested last week.

Officials say he's been with the department for 17 years.

According to the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office, it all started on March 20 when the internet Crimes Against Children unit received a tip from a cloud-based storage provider.

The tip was about explicit files that had been uploaded by one of their users.

Detectives reviewed the 76 files, some of which they say showed juveniles engaged in sexual acts.

Prosecutors say those files were traced back to Ortiz of Estell Manor, NJ.

He was arrested the next day and issued a summons.

"We just all need to protect our children," said Tracey Walsh of Williamstown. "The more that we talk about it the better that it is. And unfortunately, he was a police officer."

Action News was unable to reach Ortiz for comment on Wednesday.

He's due to appear in Atlantic County Superior Court on April 26.