TRENTON - Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced that a Holmdel man was sentenced to state prison today for distributing child pornography over the Internet.  The defendant was convicted at trial in March by the Division of Criminal Justice.  He was among more than three dozen people arrested in 2007 as part of “Operation Silent Shield,” an investigation by the New Jersey State Police that targeted offenders who distributed child pornography over the Internet.

John A. Dziegiel, 59, of Holmdel, was sentenced to six years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Richard W. English in Monmouth County.  Dziegiel was also ordered to pay a $2,500 criminal fine.  A jury found Dziegiel guilty on March 7 of two counts of second-degree distribution of child pornography and one count of fourth-degree possession of child pornography following a three-week trial.  The charges were contained in a Sept. 30, 2008 indictment obtained by the Division of Criminal Justice Computer Analysis & Technology Unit.  Deputy Attorneys General Andrew C. Fried and Jillian Carpenter, tried the case and represented the state at the sentencing.

The jury found by its verdict that Dziegiel 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 between July and September 2007.  On Sept. 27, 2007, members of the New Jersey State Police executed a search warrant at Dziegiel’s home and seized his computer, which contained hundreds of files of child pornography. 

“The end users who share child pornography on the Internet contribute to the horrific exploitation of children in a real and direct way, because they create the demand that motivates the producers of child pornography.  This is absolutely not a victimless crime,” said Attorney General Chiesa. “Prison is the appropriate sentence for anyone who distributes child pornography and contributes to the continued exploitation of children.”
 
“Law enforcement has the technology to trace computer images of child pornography to those who send and receive them, and our courts have affirmed that storing images in a peer-to-peer network on the Internet will support a conviction for distribution of child pornography, ” said Stephen J. Taylor, Director of the Division of Criminal Justice. “Armed with that legal precedent and cutting-edge technology, we will continue to work with the State Police and our other law enforcement partners to put offenders like Dziegiel in prison.”

Operation Silent Shield, led by the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit, targeted offenders who distributed known images and videos of child pornography over the Internet. Detectives traced the senders and receivers of those files who lived in New Jersey and made more than 40 arrests.

Attorney General Chiesa urged anyone who has information about the distribution of child pornography on the Internet or who suspects improper contact by unknown persons communicating with children via the Internet, or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of children, to please contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 1-888-648-6007.

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