Crime & Safety

Bedminster Man Gets 7 Years for Child Porn, Sex Offenses

23-year-old sentenced following conviction on multiple charges.

A 23-year-old Bedminster man on Friday was sentenced to seven years in state prison following his conviction on multiple charges that included viewing and distributing child pornography, endangering the welfare of children, criminal mischief, fleeing to avoid arrest and more.

Robert Gundersen, 23, of Thosmor Road in Bedminster, received his sentence from state Superior Court Judge Julie M. Marino, according to Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey D. Soriano.

The convictions spanned a series of offenses, according to the prosecutor's office, including having sexual contact with an adult female on a hike and bike path, followed by "sexual contact against her," and then exposing himself to another woman a month later.

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Gundersen was also convicted on charges he possessed and/or viewed multiple images of child pornography and, after a court order to stay away from children, was discovered staring at pre-adolescent girls in the children's section of Bedminster's Clarence Dillon Public Library, the prosecutor's office said.

The charges, stemming from three separate court indictments, were the result of a lengthy investigation conducted by Police Lt. Craig Meyer, of the Bedminster Township Police Department, with the assistance of the Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory, Soriano said in a news release on Friday.

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The investigation showed that Gundersen had committed the multiple offenses between Aug. 18, 2006 and Oct. 22, 2010 that led to his conviction, according to the prosecutor's office.

Gundersen was convicted of seven counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of children; third-degree endangering the welfare of children; fourth-degree endangering the welfare of children by possession of child pornography; third- and fourth-degree criminal mischief; fourth-degree criminal sexual contact; fourth-degree resisting arrest by flight; fourth-degree contempt of bail orders; and lewdness, a disorderly persons offense. Gundersen also was ordered to pay restitution, an amount not specified in the news release.

Investigators said Gundersen's offenses included placing graffiti on property belonging to Bedminster Township and to Levin Management Corporation, with some of the graffiti having various images and words with sexual overtones.

On April 6, 2010, Gundersen is said to have encountered an adult female on a hike and bike path and committed sexual contact against her, the prosecutor's office said. On May 4, 2010, he exposed himself to another woman and masturbated in front of her, according to charges on which he was convicted.

Between Aug. 18, 2006 and May 6, 2010 in Bedminster and Bridgewater Townships, Gundersen possessed or in some cases viewed multiple images of child pornography, including images of children, the prosecutor's office said.

The release said Gundersen also engaged in sexual conduct "which would tend to impair or debauch the morals of children under the age of sixteen by possessing clothed images of multiple children who were students at the day care center where he worked and of children on the hike and bike path."

Authorities said Gundersen posted, uploaded and discussed some of those photos in Internet chats with others. Those items were seized by the police during their investigation, according to the news release.

Afterward, the prosecutor's office said, Gundersen violated bail orders that had been set by Superior Court Judges Robert B. Reed, and also Paul W. Armstrong, J.S.C., which prohibited him from being in any areas where children were present.

Investigators said that on Oct. 21, 2010, Bedminster Police Officer John Dapkins and Det./Lt. Craig Meyer observed Gundersen’s car parked near the entrance to the children’s section of the Clarence Dillon Library, according to the release.

Meyer then observed Gundersen staring at "two pre-pubescent girls" who were within approximately 10 to 15 feet of him in the library, the release said.

Then, when Meyer attempted to arrest Gundersen on Oct. 22, 2010 for that contempt of the bail orders, the man fled from him and was eventually apprehended, authorities said.

In addition, during a time period between Feb. 15, 2010 and April 3, 2010 in Bedminster, Gundersen also was convicted of distributing pornographic images of real children, not computer generated images of children, and made and distributed reconstructed images of child pornography, the prosecutor's office said.

The state's case was represented by Assistant Prosecutor Kathleen P. Holly, according to Soriano's office.


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