TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced
that a Sussex County man pleaded guilty to
distributing child pornography over 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.
According
to Director Gramiccioni, Sean Turner, 20,
of Highland Lakes, pleaded guilty before Superior
Court Judge N. Peter Conforti to second-degree
distributing of child pornography. The charge
was contained in an Oct. 14, 2008 state grand
jury indictment.
In
pleading guilty, Turner admitted that he 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. 24,
2007 revealed numerous videos containing child
pornography on Turner’s computer.
Judge
Conforti scheduled sentencing for April 24.
As part of the plea agreement, the Division
of Criminal Justice will recommend that Turner
serve a sentence of three years in state prison.
Turner will also be required to register under
Megan’s Law.
The
Digital Technology Investigation Unit of the
New Jersey State Police coordinated the investigations.
Deputy Attorney General Betty Rodriguez represented
the Division of Criminal Justice at the guilty
plea hearing.
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