A Gilbertsville resident and Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputy was arrested in Wildwood, NJ on Tuesday for allegedly distributing child pornography from his Cape May County vacation home, according to 6abc.
James Christopher Buckley, 57, is charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child by possessing and distributing child pornography, per the report. According to The Pottstown Mercury, Buckley is a 10-year veteran of the department.
Montgomery County Sheriff Sean Kilkenny released a statement on the arrest of his deputy.
"As an agency committed to upholding the law and maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability, we take these allegations extremely seriously,” Kilkenny said. "Per office policy, Deputy Buckley has been immediately suspended pending the resolution of the investigation.”
Kilkenny said the sheriff’s office is cooperating with the investigation and is conducting its own requisite internal review.
"The conduct outlined in these charges is antithetical to the values and principles of our agency and an affront to the public’s trust. We remain steadfast in our commitment to serving and protecting the residents of Montgomery County,” Kilkenny said. "We will not be providing further statements at this time as this is an ongoing investigation.”
According to the report, an investigation into Buckley began when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipped prosecutors in March 2020 that an unidentified person, alleged to be Buckley, possessed and disseminated child sexual abuse images via his iCloud account in 2020 from his Wildwood vacation home.
Buckley, per reports, allegedly confessed to viewing and saving the images during the Covid pandemic.
According to The Mercury, Buckley allegedly obtained the images from Tumblr while searching for adult pornography.
6abc interviewed Buckley’s neighbors and many were shocked by the alleged behavior.
"You think those people are supposed to be protecting the people, especially children in the area,” stated one anonymous neighbor, in the 6abc report.
Buckley has a detention hearing scheduled for Feb. 26, per The Mercury, and faces 8 to 15 years in prison if convicted. Further information or inquiries related to this case are directed to the Cape May Prosecutor’s Office at 609-465-1135.
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