A Red Bank man has plead guilty to taking inappropriate videos of women and children at New Jersey supermarkets and at their homes between 2022 and 2023, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office announced Tuesday.
Christopher Cox, 35, plead guilty Friday to one count of second-degree eluding police, two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and multiple counts of invasion of privacy before Superior Court Judge Joseph Oxley, authorities said.
In April, a Monmouth County grand jury returned a 67-count indictment against Cox that had been amended to encompass his crimes against all 27 known victims, it was stated in a news release.
A joint investigation revealed that Cox followed shoppers around the ShopRite in Shrewsbury around 4 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2022 and “used his cell phone in a manner indicating that he was surreptitiously taking photos of them from behind,” according to a news release.
Cox then fled the store in an SUV, officials said.
A week later, Red Bank police stopped the SUV on Newman Springs Road. Cox initially obeyed the officer’s order to step out of the SUV, but then got back in and drove off with the cop releasing his grip to avoid being dragged, the prosecutor’s office said. Authorities arrested Cox in Little Silver a short time later.
After seizing his electronic devices, detectives found videos depicting women and underage girls being filmed from below using a cell phone placed in a grocery basket, duffel bag or other similar items, authorities said.
Investigators said the videos were taken at eight different grocery stores between May and November of 2022.
The incidents allegedly occurred at the ShopRite supermarkets in Shrewsbury, West Long Branch and Elizabeth; ShopRite Wines & Spirits in Westfield; Whole Foods in Middletown; as well as a Foodtown and Walmart in unknown locations, it was previously reported.
Some of the charges filed against Cox were connected to incidents taking place in the homes of clients when he worked as a plumber, the prosecutor’s office said.
Cox is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 6 where he faces up to eight years in state prison.
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Deion Johnson may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Instagram at @DeionRJohnson or X @DeionRJohhnson
