HACKENSACK—Two Northern Valley men accused of child pornography crimes briefly shared a bunk bed inside a Bergen County Jail cell awaiting their days in court, before being released on bail, county sheriff’s department records show.
Ronald S. Rovito Jr., 23, of Northvale was arrested Nov. 6 after Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Cyber Crimes Unit searched his Paris Avenue residence, Prosecutor Mark Musella announced Nov. 7.
Pritkumar Patel, 23, of Closter, was arrested Nov. 6 when the the New Jersey State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit and the BCPO searched his High Street apartment, New Jersey State Police said today on Facebook.
Patel allegedly had child pornography and was attempting to extort at least one juvenile victim for additional pornographic images, New Jersey State Police announced on Facebook.
Bergen County Sheriff’s Department records show that Patel uses the alias “Ronald Rovito.” The records also showed he had been held in the jail’s S5 Housing Block, inside cell number 17, where he had the upper housing bed.
Rovito was also in S5 Housing Block’s cell 17 in the lower housing bed, records showed.
Patel was released on bail on Nov. 12, records show. Rovito was released on bail on Nov. 13, records show.
Patel allegedly extorted
In its Facebook post, New Jersey State Police alleged Patel had child pornography and was attempting extort at least one juvenile victim for additional pornographic images.
State police said Patel is charged with cyber-harassment, endangering the welfare of a child (impairing or debauching), criminal coercion, endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child pornography), and theft by extortion.
The Bergen County Prosecutors Office is prosecuting the case, the state police agency said, adding that the charges are mere accusations and the accused is considered innocent until proven guilty.
Patel was born in India and is a citizen of the South Asian nation.
Rovito allegedly had more than 100 files
Rovito was arrested when authorities, led by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, searched his Paris Avenue home in connection to an Internet child pornography investigation, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced.
Rovito is accused of second-degree distribution of child pornography in an amount greater than 25 files, third degree possession of child pornography in an amount greater than 100 files, and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
Rovito used numerous social media and file-sharing applications to share the child pornography images and engage in online conversations using a fictitious identity, Musella said.
“During at least two such online conversations, Ronald S. Rovito, Jr. engaged in sexually explicit dialogue with two underage girls and collected approximately 20 nude or sexually explicit images from them,” Musella said.
Did your child communicate with these screen names?
In announcing the arrest of Rovito, Prosecutor Musella said his office’s investigation is continuing.
Any parent or guardian who determines that their child has communicated with the online screen names buyingnudes2019, whoop_w, or ncruzan should contact the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Cyber Crimes Unit at (201) 226-5518, Musella said.
Northern Valley Press asked the BCPO to comment on whether these cases are related. The Bergen County Sheriff’s Department Chief of Staff Derek Sands was not immediately available to comment on jail housing procedures. A New Jersey State Police spokeswoman said the agency has no further information other than its Facebook post.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to reflect that Rovito and Patel were released on bail, according to Bergen County Sheriff’s Department records.