Prison guard facing federal child porn charges
NEWARK » The creepiness of Stephen Salamak, a prison guard at East Jersey State Prison, first came to light when he placed a Craigslist entitled “Woman/Moms that are into Cheese Pizza.”
Cheese pizza, according to a federal criminal complaint filed Thursday against Salamak, meant child porn.
An undercover law enforcement officer responded to the ad that was placed in May that sought to connect moms who were “into perverted topics,” the feds outlined.
Over email conversations with the undercover agent, Salamak — indicating his name was “Steven” — discussed meeting with that person and her 8 -year-old daughter and sent a clothed picture of himself. Even more alarming, Salamak requested a pic of the prepubescent girl and asked, “What gets her in the mood? Porn on TV or internet?” the complaint states.
The corrections officer, a Lodi resident, also told the undercover officer he lived in Bergen County and provided his cellphone number and email address, which were both registered to Salamak.
With this crucial evidence linking Salamak to pedophilia, authorities were able to execute a search warrant on the corrections officer’s email address in July, revealing the guard’s troubling collection of child porn.
Salamak was arrested Thursday by federal agents for receiving images of child sexual abuse, acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced in a press release.
According to the complaint, a review of Salamak Gmail account revealed that the corrections officers had communicated with multiple people regarding his interest in pedophilia and child porn.
One disturbing example provided by the feds was an email Salamak sent to another individual in May stating, “Amazing stepdaughter ... I don’t have a stepdaughter or daughter so I don’t have my own work.” He also admitted to masturbating to pictures online and wrote, “I wish I could see better I guess I’m asking for a freebie.” He followed that up with, “Hope to u can send some real nice ones, if not its cool no biggie.”
Salamak allegedly received five images from his newfound online child porn buddy.
Feds say the images, which appeared to be secretly taken, showed a minor girl:
• With her shirt lifted to expose her chest
• Exiting a bathtub with her bare vaginal area exposed
• With the lower portion of her body just below her navel fully exposed to reveal the
bare vaginal area
• Fully unclothed and bent over a bathtub exposing her buttocks, vaginal region, and breast on her left side
• With the lower portion of her body just below her navel fully exposed to reveal the child touching her vaginal area in a children’s playroom or bedroom with the background image of a toy princess castle
The sender warned Salamak that certain email providers “will ban you for illegal pics,” the complaint states.
“As far as pic, I don’t send (reference to prepubescent hard core child pornography) on gmail. I send borderline stuff like this,” Salamak responded. To return the favor, Salamak then allegedly sent his new online buddy image attachments of child erotica, the feds said. On Thursday, authorities searched Salamak’s Lodi residence and found more child erotica on his computer equipment. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Salamak also admitted to placing the Craigslist ad that was a reference to child porn. The corrections officer also allegedly confessed to communicating with the undercover agent and receiving emails containing child porn and talking to individuals online about his sick habit. Salamak was charged with one count of receiving child pornography. He made his initial appearance on Thursday and was released on a $125,000 unsecured bond. He was placed on house arrest with electronic location monitoring, the feds said. Salamak faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The corrections officer, who earns an annual salary of nearly $62,000, started worked at East Jersey State Prison in Rahway in 2012, records show. The arrest was attributed to the work of special agents of ICE HSI and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.