NEWBURYPORT, MASS. (WHDH) - A New Jersey man was ordered held on $25,000 bail Thursday in Newburyport after officials say he sent obscene matter to an undercover officer.
Matthew Settele, 43, of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, was arraigned in Newburyport District Court on 20 counts of disseminating obscene matter to a minor, according to the Essex District Attorney’s Office.
Police officers from Salisbury and Newbury police departments, working undercover, allege that the defendant sent a series of lewd messages and photographs to what he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.
The alleged conduct occurred between Feb. 28 and April 9.
Settele was ordered not to leave the state, submit to GPS monitoring, surrender his passport, have no contact with children under 18, and not to use the Internet.
Settele returns to court on May 31 for a competency and criminal responsibility hearing.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)