Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi and Medford Township Police Chief Richard J. Meder announced that a 32-year-old Medford man was arrested on Thursday, Sept. 1 and charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.
Stephen B. Gifford, of the 100 block of Pine Valley Drive in Medford, was charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Specifically, a second degree charge involved the distribution of child pornography and two third degree charges were for possession of the material.
Gifford is presently employed as a ropes course instructor and maintenance worker at the JCC Camps at Medford. He is also employed by Virtua Health System, where his duties include patient transport.
Gifford was taken into custody at his residence this morning following the execution of a search warrant. Numerous digital storage devices belonging to Gifford were seized. A review of the devices revealed that they contained pornographic images and videos of adult males engaged in sexual acts with underage females.
Bail was set at $100,000 with no 10 percent option by the Hon. Peter Lange, J.M.C. Gifford was lodged in the Burlington County Jail. Gifford had his first appearance in Superior Court in Burlington County on the afternoon of Sept. 2. The case will next be presented to a Grand Jury for possible indictment.
The investigation revealed that Gifford uploaded a pornographic image involving a child for others to access. The investigation originated from information received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Anyone with information about this defendant that might be useful to investigators should call the Prosecutor’s Office at (609) 265–5270. The investigation was conducted by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office High-Tech Crimes Unit, the Medford Police Department and the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit, which oversees the NJSP Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office High-Tech Crimes Unit is a member of the ICAC Task Force.
