Monmouth county, n.J., man pleads guilty to possession of child pornography
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
August 21, 2012 |
TRENTON, N.J. – A Monmouth County, N.J., man today admitted possessing child pornography on his computer, including violent video images, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Danial Hillman, 27, of Atlantic Highlands, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano in Trenton federal court to one count of an Indictment charging him with possession of child pornography.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
As early as Dec. 6, 2010, undercover law enforcement officers downloaded videos and images of child pornography from Hillman on the Internet via peer-to-peer file sharing software. The images downloaded by federal investigators from Hillman’s shared directories included three videos of three children, all under the age of 12, being sexually abused. Law enforcement officers from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Atlantic Highlands Police Department, who executed a search warrant at Hillman’s home on April 12, 2011, seized multiple computers, one of which contained images depicting child pornography, including sadistic conduct and other violent images involving minors.
The charge of possession of child pornography is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 18, 2012.
U.S. Attorney Fishman praised special agents of the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, in New Jersey under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Andrew M. McLees; the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni; and the Atlantic Highlands Police Department, under the direction of Chief Jerry Vasto, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Clabby of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.
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Defense counsel: Charles F. Clark Esq., Freehold, N.J.
