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For Immediate Release:
For Further Information:
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November 4, 2010

Office of The Attorney General
- Paula T. Dow, Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
- Stephen J. Taylor, Director

Media Inquiries-
Peter Aseltine
609-292-4791
Citizen Inquiries-
609-292-4925

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Former Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen Sentenced to Prison for Distributing Child Pornography

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TRENTON – Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that former New Jersey Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen was sentenced to prison today for distributing child pornography.

According to Director Taylor, Cohen, 59, of Paramus, was sentenced to five years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Gerald J. Council in Mercer County. Cohen will be permanently barred from any public employment or elected office, and he will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law. Judge Council ordered that Cohen be returned for 10 days to Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, where he had been involuntarily committed, while the Department of Corrections works out how Cohen will be placed in the prison system.

Cohen pleaded guilty on April 12 to endangering the welfare of a child (distribution of child pornography). That second-degree charge was contained in an indictment obtained by the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.

In pleading guilty, Cohen admitted that he viewed images of child pornography on a computer in the 20th Legislative District Office in Union Township and printed copies of images of child pornography that he placed in the desk of a female receptionist in the office.

“By viewing and distributing child pornography, Mr. Cohen made himself a part of the network of suppliers and users whose actions serve to promote this abhorrent exploitation of children,” said Attorney General Dow. “Prison is the appropriate sentence for his crime.”

“Mr. Cohen’s use of a computer in his legislative office to print out child pornography compounded his offense,” said Director Taylor. “State residents should feel outraged that he used equipment paid for with their tax dollars to commit this despicable crime.”

The case was prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Anthony A. Picione, Deputy Chief of the Corruption Bureau, and Deputy Attorney General Christine Hoffman, Chief of the Corruption Bureau. They represented the state at sentencing. The charges are the result of an investigation by the New Jersey State Police and the Division of Criminal Justice.

In July 2008, the New Jersey State Police were notified of child pornography found in the 20th Legislative District office. The State Police and the Division of Criminal Justice immediately commenced an investigation.

Detectives from the State Police and Division of Criminal Justice executed a search warrant to seize the hard drives from the computers in the legislative office. A review of the hard drives yielded multiple images of child pornography. The investigation revealed that Cohen was the individual who viewed and printed child pornography. Cohen was first indicted by a state grand jury on Dec. 17, 2008. That indictment was superseded by a second indictment on July 9, 2009.

Cohen served more than 16 years in the New Jersey Assembly. He resigned from the Assembly on July 28, 2008 after the investigation became public.

The investigation was conducted for the Division of Criminal Justice by Sgt. David Salzmann, Detective Michael Behar, Sgt. Warren Monroe, Detective Harry Maronpot, and Deputy Attorney General Anthony A. Picione in the Corruption Bureau, and Deputy Attorney General Kenneth Sharpe in the Computer Analysis and Technology Unit.

The investigation was conducted for the State Police by Detective Sgt. 1st Class Bryant Hoar, Detective Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Celli III, Detective Sgt. Karl Ulbrich, Detective Deniele DeBoer and Detective Anthony Carugno of the Official Corruption Unit; Sgt. Charles Allen, Detective Gregory Godish and Lt. Keith Halton of the Digital Technology Investigations Unit; and Detective Denman Powers of the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory.

If you suspect that someone is using or distributing child pornography on the Internet or suspect improper contact by unknown persons communicating with children via the Internet contact the Division of Criminal Justice Computer Analysis & Technology Unit Tip Line at 1-800-396-2310 or report it at www.njdcj.org.

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