Essex county, n.J., man sentenced to 152 months in prison
for possessing child pornography
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
July 17, 2012 |
NEWARK, N.J. – A Cedar Grove, N.J., man was sentenced today to 152 months in prison for collecting images of prepubescent children being sexually abused, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Curt Scholz, 48, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz to an Information charging him with one count of possession of child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge Faith S. Hochberg imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Scholz acknowledged that among the more than 150 images of child pornography he possessed were images depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct with other minors and adults – including material portraying sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Hochberg sentenced Scholz to five years of federal supervised release. In sentencing Scholz, the court noted that he faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison due to prior state convictions for relevant offenses.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Andrew M. McLees in Newark; and troopers of the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Colonel Joseph R. Fuentes, Superintendent, with the investigation leading to today’s sentence. He also thanked the New Jersey Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory for its work on the case.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zach Intrater of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
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Defense counsel: Assistant Federal Public Defender K. Anthony Thomas Esq., Newark
