Piscataway Man Charged with Sending Obscene Material to Minor Under 16

Federal authorities allege Mahir Chaudhry sent explicit images to a minor over several months in 2023, prompting charges under federal child exploitation laws.

NEWARK, N.J. — A 21-year-old man from Piscataway, Middlesex County, was arrested on August 27, 2025, for allegedly sending sexually explicit material to a minor under the age of 16, according to Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Attorney Alina Habba.

Mahir Chaudhry was charged by criminal complaint with one count of transferring obscene material to a minor. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa in Newark federal court on August 28 and was ordered detained pending finalization of certain bail conditions.

According to court documents and statements presented in court, the alleged conduct took place between March and May 2023. During this time, Chaudhry is accused of knowingly sending at least six obscene images via text message to a minor he understood to be under the age of 16.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Operational Unit, led by Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy, with assistance from the FBI Newark Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, and international law enforcement partners.

The investigation is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The program leverages federal, state, and local resources to apprehend offenders and rescue victims of child exploitation. More information is available at justice.gov/psc.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Maloy of the Organized Crime and Gangs Unit in Newark.

As with all criminal cases, the charges are accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.