Here’s the stories you’ll be talking about on the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show on Monday:
Elmer Lao, of Camden, is accused of soliciting child porn. Police say he was busted by K9 Rookie (Camden County Prosecutor’s Office)Elmer Lao, of Camden, is accused of soliciting child porn. Police say he was busted by K9 Rookie (Camden County Prosecutor’s Office)
⚠️ Camden police charged a 36-year-old man after a 7-year-old reported receiving messages on TikTok.
➡️ Investigators say a K-9 trained to detect electronics found the cellphone tied to the case.
🔴 Prosecutors urged parents to monitor children’s social media and discuss online safety.
CAMDEN — A local man is accused of pressuring a 7-year-old girl to send him sexually explicit photos after chatting on a popular social media platform.
Elmer Lao was arrested after a dog trained in electronic detection found a cellphone stashed in the 36-year-old Camden resident’s bedroom, police said.
Lao was charged with second-degree attempted manufacturing of child sexual abuse material and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
On July 20, investigators were contacted about the young girl who said that a man had started sending her messages on TikTok and by text message.
Two days later, the K9 named Rookie found a cell phone during a search of Lao’s home.
Investigators said that the phone was found to be the one that Lao used to send nude videos of himself to the victim — while requesting that the girl send nude photos of herself back.
(Office of Governor / Tim Larsen)(Office of Governor / Tim Larsen)
⚖️ A federal judge dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit seeking New Jersey’s voter registration database.
🗳️ The ruling comes as New Jersey faces heightened scrutiny over thousands of mistaken voter registrations.
📋 The Justice Department is separately seeking records tied to nearly 400 noncitizens who cast ballots.
TRENTON — A federal judge has handed New Jersey a significant victory in its legal battle with the Trump administration over access to the state’s voter registration records, dismissing a lawsuit that sought to force the state to hand over its entire voter registration database.
In a 17-page opinion issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi ruled that the Department of Justice lacked legal authority under the Civil Rights Act of 1960 to compel New Jersey to produce its computerized statewide voter registration list, dismissing the case with prejudice.
The ruling comes a week after Gov. Mikie Sherrill disclosed that a software error at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission mistakenly registered about 6,600 non-citizens to vote between June 2023 and June 2024, thrusting New Jersey into the center of the national debate over election integrity.
The federal lawsuit was filed months before the software error became public. And the Justice Department, meanwhile, is separately requesting that the state hand over the names and addresses of nearly 400 noncitizens who voted because of the MVC error. The Sherrill administration has denied that request as well.
Dr. Anthony Fauci appears before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at the Capitol, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)Dr. Anthony Fauci appears before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at the Capitol, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Washington.
☑️Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment at a Senate hearing
☑️Republicans pressed Fauci over COVID origins
☑️Democrats called the hearing partisan
Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer dozens of questions from senators in a Republican-led committee hearing about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision, at least for now, sidesteps calls for his prosecution if he is accused of lying at the hearing, part of a years long campaign for his arrest spearheaded by some Republicans in Congress. Though the now-retired infectious-disease expert received a presidential pardon from Democratic President Joe Biden, critics have suggested he could still face charges if he perjures himself under oath.
In response to angry, sometimes mocking, questions from Republican senators, Fauci declined to answer more than 50 times, injecting new drama into partisan divides that have festered for years about the origins and handling of the pandemic.
Fauci, who helped lead the nation’s COVID-19 response, has long been a target of those frustrations. But to his supporters he is an emblem of sound scientific expertise.
The scientist had been subpoenaed to appear before the committee by Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has long had a fraught relationship with Fauci and led the charge seeking that he testify, again, under oath.
In his opening statement, Fauci said Paul has an “obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution.”
“The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, quote, behind bars, unquote.” Fauci said, adding that while it pains him to do so, he is following his attorney’s advice by taking the Fifth.
Bush crashed into a house in Jackson on July 29, 2026. (Reader submitted)Bush crashed into a house in Jackson on July 29, 2026. (Reader submitted)
🚨A commuter bus crashed into a Jackson home around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday
🚨No passengers were aboard and no one was inside the house when the bus hit.
🚨 The home was declared uninhabitable as police continue investigating the crash.
JACKSON — A commuter bus crashed into an Ocean County house just before dawn on Wednesday morning.
The empty Academy bus crashed into the left side of a two-story home on East Veterans Highway (Routes 527/528) in Jackson around 4:30 a.m., according to police Lt. Edward A. Travisano.
Photos of the crash published by the Asbury Park Press show heavy damage to the side of the house, including a mangled railing, broken windows and chunks of concrete from the foundation.
No passengers were on the bus. The driver suffered a minor injury, police said.
A resident of the home said nobody was injured but the bus stopped “near inches away” from someone who was sleeping.
State police corralled 15 escaped pigs in Sussex County (Wantage Animal Shelter via Facebook)State police corralled 15 escaped pigs in Sussex County (Wantage Animal Shelter via Facebook)
🐷 Pig pandemonium: Fifteen escaped pigs shut down part of Route 565 in Frankford Township, creating a traffic hazard during the Wednesday morning commute.
🚔 Safe roundup: New Jersey State Police, Wantage Animal Control and the owner worked together to corral the wandering hogs and return them safely to their pasture.
⚠️ Driver warning: Officials remind Sussex County motorists to slow down, stay alert and never use a cellphone to record animal rescues on the road.
FRANKFORD — You’ve heard of drivers hogging New Jersey roadways trying to get to their destinations, but what happens when the road hogs really are hogs?
That’s what happened in Sussex County on Wednesday morning.
Escaped pigs create traffic hazard on Route 565 in Sussex County
On Wednesday, July 29, just after 8:30 a.m., New Jersey State Police responded to Route 565 in the Skylands region for a report of 15 pigs running at large, creating quite the hazard for motorists, according to the Wantage Township Animal Shelter’s Facebook page.
State police managed to safely corral the pigs along the side of the road. Wantage Animal Control then arrived and worked with the police to guide the oinkers back toward the property from which they escaped.
Shortly afterward, the pigs’ owner arrived and helped with returning them to their pasture.
17 towns in NJ among 100 hottest real estate markets
New Jersey locations that made the Top 100 list by Realtor.com measuring views on real estate listings and average length of time on the market.
Gallery Credit: Realtor.com
NJ teachers recently accused of sexual crimes
Several New Jersey educators and coaches have faced recent accusations of sexual misconduct, while others return to court as their cases progress.
Gallery Credit: Erin Vogt
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The New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show airs from 6 – 10 a.m. on New Jersey 101.5.
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You can reach him at eric.scott@townsquaremedia.com
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