February 23, 2024
WEST WINDSOR, NJ (MERCER)–The Robbinsville-Allentown High School Ravens Cooperative Ice Hockey Team fell to Ocean Township High School with a final score of 1-0 in Round two of the State Playoffs. Shots on goal Robbinsville 48, Ocean Township 26.
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February 23, 2024
TRENTON, NJ (MERCER)–A three-alarm fire on Oak Street early this morning (Friday, Feb. 23) gutted one row house, damaged another home and injured at least one firefighter. The blaze was reported just after 5:10 a.m. Heavy fire was showing from 63 Oak Street – located on one end of a row of six – and flames were starting to spread into the neighboring home at 65 Oak Street when firefighters arrived. Multiple hose lines were put in service. A second alarm was sounded after a firefighter was injured and then a third alarm was transmitted after an interior collapse occurred. The injured firefighter was transported to hospital by Trenton EMS personnel. The blaze was not officially declared under control until 7:30 a.m. The cause of the fire is under investigation by city, county and state investigators. In addition to all on-duty city firefighters, Signal 22, the volunteer fire and police canteen service, was also on scene.
Photos: Michael Ratcliffe
Photos: Anthony Greco
February 23, 2024
Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw announced that a grand jury returned a 97-count indictment against a former Mount Laurel police officer who was charged in 2022 with hacking into the social media accounts of multiple women and distributing nude images they kept of themselves.
Ayron Taylor, 24, of Moorestown, was indicted on 54 counts of Elements of Computer Theft (Second and Third Degrees), 21 counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, including Distribution of Child Pornography (Second and Third Degrees), 19 counts of Invasion of Privacy (Second and Third Degrees), two counts of Attempted Elements of Computer Theft (Second and Third Degrees) and one count of Official Misconduct (Second Degree).
The charges in the indictment, which was returned February 15, relate to illegal activity targeting approximately 20 separate victims, all female. Taylor is charged with accessing their social media accounts without permission, and in several instances, distributing their nude photos to people on their contact lists. The child pornography distribution charges were filed because some of the photos he accessed were taken before the victims became legal adults.
The official misconduct charge applies because some of Taylor’s actions occurred while he was on duty as a police officer. It is alleged that he used personally-owned electronic devices during that time, not anything that belonged to the police department.
An arraignment will be held March 11 in Superior Court in Mount Holly, and the case will then be scheduled for trial.
The investigation began in September 2022 after the initial victim contacted Evesham Township police to report that her Snapchat and Facebook accounts had been hacked by an unknown person who then sent nude photos she had taken of herself to her Snapchat contacts, messaged them to her Facebook friends, and posted them on her Facebook wall.
The investigation determined the commonality among all victims was that each one had a student email account through Rowan College at Burlington County. The investigation further determined that Taylor illegally accessed approximately 5,000 RCBC email accounts.
Taylor became a full-time officer in Mount Laurel after graduating from the police academy in October 2021. The department took immediate action to suspend him following the initial charges. Taylor resigned after measures were taken to terminate his employment.
RCBC officials have been cooperative with law enforcement throughout the investigation.
The investigation was conducted by the BCPO High-Tech Crimes Unit and the Evesham Township Police Department, with assistance from the Mount Laurel Police Department, Delran Police Department, the New Jersey State Police and the Riverside Police Department. The lead investigator was ETPD Detective Christopher DeFrancesco. Taylor is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Eife, supervisor of the BCPO Special Victims Unit.
An indictment is an accusation. Defendants are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty.
Ayron Taylor, 24, of Moorestown, was indicted on 54 counts of Elements of Computer Theft (Second and Third Degrees), 21 counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, including Distribution of Child Pornography (Second and Third Degrees), 19 counts of Invasion of Privacy (Second and Third Degrees), two counts of Attempted Elements of Computer Theft (Second and Third Degrees) and one count of Official Misconduct (Second Degree).