Picture of boy with hunting rifle on Facebook leads to home search

NEW JERSEY (WITI) -- A New Jersey man says his home was searched illegally by police after a photo of his 11-year-old son posing with a gun was posted on Facebook.

Shawn Moore says he gave the gun to his son as a present to use on hunting trips.

However, someone saw the picture and called the child abuse hotline.

Moore says his wife told him that state child welfare investigators, along with four cops, stopped at the house and asked to inspect the family's guns.

"They wanted to go through the house, make sure guns were not available to kids and once they went through the house, they wanted to get into my safe and they wanted to run the serial numbers on all my firearms and make sure they were registered to me and catalog them. I think that it's illegal, plus in New Jersey, you don't have to register your firearms. I didn't commit any crime, I wasn't charged with anything, and they even admitted that it was a false claim so they had no reason to go in my safe without a search warrant," Moore said.

Moore's son said he was happy to get the gun, saying "I'm a pretty good shooter, pretty good hunter."

A state child welfare spokeswoman said officers are sometimes asked to accompany caseworkers if safety could be compromised. A police chief did not have an immediate comment on the case.