BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP: Photo received on phone yields child endangerment charge

by Geoffrey Wertime, Staff Writer
    A Bordentown man has been indicted on a child endangerment charge for allegedly receiving cell phone pictures that a co-worker purportedly took of a 6-year-old’s chest and stomach at an East Windsor supermarket.
    Anthony Zukowski, 55, of Hilltop Drive, Bordentown Township, was indicted Friday by a Mercer County grand jury on a fourth-degree charge of endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Mercer County prosecutor’s office.
    Prosecutors allege Mr. Zukowski received on his cell phone pictures of the girl taken by James Branchide, 38, of East Windsor, a co-worker at the ShopRite on Route 130 in East Windsor.
    Mr. Branchide is accused of following a 6-year-old girl through the store, lifting her shirt, and taking pictures of her chest and abdominal area with his cell phone camera on July 15, 2008. He was indicted on one count of second-degree luring or enticing a child and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, one second-degree and one third-degree, according to a press release from the prosecutor’s office.
    If convicted, Mr. Zukowski faces a maximum of 18 months in prison. He was charged by East Windsor police Aug. 6, 2008, and he is free on $15,000 bail.
    Mr. Branchide was in the Mercer County Correction Center on Tuesday in lieu of $50,000 bail. Of the charges he faces, each second-degree offense carries a penalty of 5 to 10 years in prison, while the third-degree offense carries a penalty of 3 to 5 years in prison.
    Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini credited the East Windsor Township Police Department, the prosecutor’s Child Abuse/Sexual Assault Unit and the New Jersey State Police Cyber Crimes Unit with the investigation leading to the indictment. Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Moran presented the case to the grand jury.
    Packet Group Staff Writer Sean Ruppert contributed to this report.