Manalapan, n.J., woman sentenced to 30 years in prison for
sexually abusing girl, streaming assault live over the internet
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
December 18, 2012 |
TRENTON, N.J. – A Manalapan, N.J., woman was sentenced today to 30 years in prison for the production of child pornography through the sexual exploitation of a 5-year-old girl, admitting to abusing the girl on more than one occasion and streaming footage of a sexual assault over the Internet, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced.
Jennifer Mahoney, 33, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper to an Information charging her with one count of the sexual exploitation of a child. Judge Cooper imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.
“Today’s sentence is a just and fair punishment for a crime that illustrates just how despicable ‘child pornography’ is,” U.S. Attorney Fishman said. “The victim in this case was a 5-year-old girl who had been entrusted to the defendant’s care. Not only did Mahoney totally betray that trust by subjecting her to multiple sexual assaults, but that little girl’s nightmare will be available for others to watch over and over.”
“Jennifer Mahoney will serve 30 years in prison for sexually abusing a young girl and streaming the footage of her crime over the Internet,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. “No prison sentence can repair the damage Jennifer Mahoney has done, but today’s sentence is appropriate punishment for such heinous crimes, committed against a defenseless victim. The Justice Department is committed to partnering with its law enforcement partners to prevent, deter and punish child exploitation.”
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Mahoney admitted she sexually assaulted a 5-year-old girl and streamed the assault live over the Internet via Skype – a video chat service. Mahoney also admitted that on another occasion last year, she abused the girl, recorded the abuse on her iPhone, and e-mailed the video to at least one other person. Mahoney admitted to viewing other videos of child sexual abuse streamed to her using Skype.
Special agents of the FBI and other law enforcement executed a search warrant at Mahoney’s home in Manalapan on Dec. 13, 2011. Law enforcement had previously seized a computer during a search of a man’s Texas home. Subsequent to both searches, law enforcement recovered from the Texas computer three videos of Mahoney having sexual contact with a child.
Two of the videos were of the video chat session, in which Mahoney is shown molesting the child while laughing and talking to someone, apparently the party on the other end of the chat session. The third video depicts Mahoney sexually abusing the child in a bathtub while filming it with her phone.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Cooper sentenced Mahoney to lifetime supervised release, with restricted contact with minors and computer-use monitoring. She must register as a sex offender.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark; and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Clabby of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton and CEOS Trial Attorney Keith A. Becker in Washington.
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Defense counsel: Herbert I. Ellis Esq., Freehold, N.J.
