Story by Ethan
On July 25th, 2025, the arrest of Christopher Battin, age 34, was announced by Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella. Christopher Battin was charged with second-degree aggravated sexual extortion against a child under the age of 13, third-degree child endangerment, fourth-degree lewdness, and fourth-degree stalking. The arrest and charges against Christopher Battin were a result of an investigation launched by Chief Matthew Finck of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, their Cyber Crimes Unit was contacted by the North Arlington Police Department on March 7th, 2025, about a child under the age of 13 being contacted by an unknown person over the internet. Detectives determined that the unknown individual was using their internet access to contact the victim and sexually extort them. Online activity that was uncovered included sexually explicit conversations, sending explicit photos of himself to the child, requesting the child send sexually explicit photos of herself, and threatening the child through blackmail while continuing to contact the minor through several different phone numbers. Through online investigation detectives were able to identify Christopher Battin as the suspected online stranger. On June 26th, 2025, a warrant was issued against Christopher Battin and his charges were determined. With the help of the United States Marshall Service, Christopher Battin was located and arrested on July 22nd, 2025, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office stated that the charges against Christopher Battin are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
