New Jersey Man Sentenced for Promoting Child Sexual Abuse Material

A New Jersey man was sentenced yesterday to 14 years in prison and 15 years of supervised release for promoting child sexual abuse material on the dark web.

According to court documents, between Oct. 18, 2020, and Jan. 20, 2023, Declan Golden, 39, of Middletown Township, New Jersey, accessed and engaged with a website on the Tor network known to encourage its users to post and trade child sexual abuse material. While on this website, Golden created numerous posts related to voyeurism and the sexual exploitation of children while encouraging other users to share images with him. Golden also posted links for users to access images of children engaging in sexually explicit conduct and statements about using a spycam on girls in the shower and on the toilet. A search of his devices revealed many videos and image files of child sexual abuse material, including depictions of prepubescent children engaged in sexual acts. In an interview with law enforcement, Golden admitted to viewing child sexual abuse material beginning in 2014.

Golden pleaded guilty in May 2025 to the charge of promoting material containing child pornography involving a prepubescent minor in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello for the Criminal and Special Prosecutions Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, and Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy of the FBI Newark Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force made the announcement.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Operational Unit (CEOU). The Department also thanks the Middletown Police Department for its assistance with the investigation.

Trial Attorney Anglica Carrasco of the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Fell for the District of New Jersey are prosecuting the case.

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 CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.