Tinton Falls teacher used online name 'Hung Chris' to solicit sex from 14-year-old: cops

FREEHOLD - A Tinton Falls elementary school teacher used the online persona "Hung Chris 0715'' to send an obscene video of himself to someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl and to offer that person $250 to perform oral sex on him, an assistant prosecutor alleged Monday.

Conversing in an adult chat room with someone using the screen name "Tina'' on the Kick social media application, Thomas R. Carraher, 26, claimed to be 16 and also asked the person he thought was 14 to send him a photograph of her breasts and to touch him intimately, Joseph Competello, assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, told Superior Court Judge Paul X. Escandon.

Days later, when Carraher told the person he wanted to make arrangements to meet with her and cuddle, "Tina'' asked if he cared that she was only 14, Competello said.

"He indicated that he was okay with that,'' Competello said.

By then, he had told the person he was not 16, but 18, the assistant prosecutor said.

The person Carraher was communicating with was, in fact, a detective from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

Carraher, of Howell, was arrested Jan. 18 and charged with attempting to distribute obscene material to a person under the age of 18, attempted criminal sexual contact and attempted child endangerment.

Competello argued Carraher needed to be kept in jail without bail to await trial on the charges, saying there would be no way to monitor his online communications if he was freed.

But, Escandon ordered Carraher released from the Monmouth County jail under court monitoring, saying there is no indication he will flee the jurisdiction or obstruct justice. The judge barred Carraher from using the internet or having any unsupervised contact with minors while he is out on pretrial release.

Carraher's attorney, Emeka Nkwuo, entered not guilty pleas on his client's behalf to all of the charges.

In ordering Carraher's release, Escandon noted even if the defendant is convicted of all of the charges, the degree of their seriousness is such that there is a presumption under the law of no incarceration.

Competello, however, said that when the case is presented to a grand jury, there is a good possibility much more serious charges will be added, including attempted sexual assault on a child and soliciting a 14-year-old to create child pornography.

Nkwuo argued the reason prosecutors didn't charge Carraher with those more serious offenses to begin with is because their case against him is weak.

"What we are not here to discuss are charges that he's not charged with,'' Nkwuo said.

"Assuming that all of the allegations made by the prosecutor are true, Mr. Callaher never attempted to meet up with anybody.''

The defense attorney explained that usually in these type of cases, an arrest is made when the subject goes to meet the undercover detective.

"Talking to someone and actually going to meet someone are two different things, but the meeting part never occurred in this case,'' Nkwuo said.

He added, "There could potentially be an element of entrapment in this case.''

Nkwuo noted that Callaher was communicating in an adult chat group, and it was the undercover detective who first made contact with him.

Nkwuo argued that Callaher has never been in any trouble before.

But Competello said Callaher's reaction when the person with whom he was communicating claimed to be 14 was concerning.

"Most people, I would submit, would immediately at that point know well enough to say, "I'm out of here,'" the assistant prosecutor said.

But Callaher took it a step further and lied about his age, Competello said.

"This defendant is an educated man,'' Competello said. "He knew that those acts were reprehensible. He knew that those acts were illegal. He knew and he did not care. He did it anyway.''

The online communications began on Dec. 28 and continued into early January, the assistant prosecutor said.

The investigation revealed the phone used in the communications belonged to Callaher, Competello said. A search of his social media revealed he was a teacher at Mahala F. Atchison Elementary School in Tinton Falls and a basketball coach at the Shrewsbury Borough School, Competello said.

When detectives went to execute a search warrant at the defendant's house, they found him nearby in a vehicle, with a phone in the cupholder. When the undercover detective on the case dialed the number belonging to "Hung Chris,'' the phone in Callaher's cupholder rang, Competello said.

Escandon scheduled Callaher's next court date for Feb. 27 before Superior Court Judge Jill Grace O'Malley.

Upon Callaher's arrest, Tinton Falls Schools Superintendent Lisa Goldey placed him on administrative leave from the school and barred him from coming onto school property or having any contact with students or staff.

Both Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago and Goldey at that time said there was no indication the charges involved any students or that any of the alleged actions occurred at school.

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Tinton Falls teacher accused in child sex case is released from jail