TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni
announced that a Morris County man was charged
today in a state grand jury indictment for
allegedly distributing child pornography
on the Internet.
The
defendant was among more than three dozen
people arrested in September and October
2007 as part of “Operation Silent
Shield,” an investigation that targeted
offenders who distributed known images and
videos of child pornography via the Internet.
A
state grand jury indictment charged Richard
F. Lyons, 21, of Budd Lake, with two counts
of second-degree distribution of child pornography
and one count of fourth-degree possession
of child pornography. The indictment alleges
that between May and September 2007, Lyons
knowingly used Internet file sharing software
to make multiple files containing child
pornography readily available for any other
user to download from a designated “shared
folder” on his computer. A search
warrant executed by the New Jersey State
Police on Sept. 25, 2007 revealed numerous
videos containing child pornography on Lyons’
computer.
The
Digital Technology Investigation Unit of
the New Jersey State Police coordinated
the investigations. Deputy Attorney General
Betty Rodriguez presented the case to the
state grand jury.
The
indictment is merely an accusation and the
defendant is presumed innocent until proven
guilty. Second-degree crimes carry a maximum
sentence of 10 years in state prison and
a $150,000 fine, while fourth-degree crimes
carry a maximum sentence of 18 months in
prison and a $10,000 fine.
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