Victoria Anne Cranmer was arrested Tuesday and charged after authorities said she sexually assaulted a child younger than 13, recorded the abuse and shared at least one video on Snapchat. The 25-year-old was booked into the Ocean County Jail and was being held without bail.
Police charged Cranmer with second-degree sexual assault, second-degree manufacturing of child sexual abuse material, third-degree possession of child sexual abuse material and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child. In New Jersey, second-degree crimes can carry prison terms of five to 10 years, while third-degree crimes can bring three to five years.
The case turned on a 14-second video authorities say was recorded May 6 inside a bathroom in Little Egg Harbor while the child was in Cranmer’s care. Investigators said they identified her through distinctive tattoos visible in the recording, including one on her leg depicting breasts.
The investigation began May 20, when the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency referred the allegations to the Little Egg Harbor Police Department and the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Special Victims Unit. Detectives later obtained search warrants for a cellphone allegedly used by Cranmer and her Snapchat account, and said they uncovered additional videos saved in Snapchat's Memories feature.
That phone had a complicated path. A former roommate bought it for Cranmer as a birthday gift, then asked her to leave it behind when she moved out. The roommate said the recording turned up while reviewing the phone’s contents, saved it, and later turned the device over to investigators. Authorities also alleged Cranmer was laughing while assaulting the child in the video.
The case is now in the hands of prosecutors, but the public record leaves one basic question unanswered: what happened to the child after the allegations were first referred to police? For now, Cranmer sits in Ocean County Jail facing charges that could bring years in prison if they lead to convictions.
