Morris County Man Charged With Child Endangerment & Lewdness
Saturday, October 18, 2025, 4:00 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
MOUNT ARLINGTON, NJ.- On Wednesday, following an investigation, a 74-year-old Budd Lake, New Jersey, man was taken into custody and jailed after being charged in connection with allegedly leaving sexually explicit pictures and notes on the windshields of vehicles of three victims over the past year.
According to Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll, on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, Thomas Hughes, 74, of Budd Lake, New Jersey, was formally charged with one count of third-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child; one count of third-degree Providing Obscene Material to a Minor; three counts of fourth-degree Distributing Obscene Material; four counts of a Disorderly Persons Offense of Lewdness; and four counts of a Disorderly Offense of Harassment.
Hughes Was Released On Special Monitoring Conditions
Hughes was processed on the charges and was remanded to the Morris County Correctional Facility. Following his first appearance in Morris County Superior Court, Hughes was released on Pretrial Monitoring Level III, with special conditions.
The charges stem from an investigation that began on September 30, 2025, when a 17-year-old girl and her mother reported to the Mount Arlington Police Department that they had traveled to the Quick Check. Upon leaving the convenience store, they noticed a note tucked under the windshield of their vehicle. Upon arriving at their destination, they discovered a Polaroid photo of a sexually explicit picture of a man’s genitalia, and a sexually explicit handwritten note.
During the ensuing investigation, Detectives of the Mount Arlington Police Department and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes/Child Endangerment Unit were able to identify Hughes, of Budd Lake, as the individual who left the sexually explicit photograph and note on the vehicle at the Quick Check.
Further investigation additionally uncovered that Hughes had left similar notes on the windshield of two adults at a restaurant in Randolph, New Jersey, on October 4, 2024, and another adult at a restaurant in Rockaway Township, New Jersey, on June 15, 2024.
The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with additional information or who may have been left a similar photograph and note is urged to contact the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes/Child Endangerment Unit at (973) 285-6200.
“The rules of the court require us to include a statement that states: The charges outlined in this publication are merely accusations, and the defendant and or defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”
