Former New Jersey Department of Children and Family Services Caseworker Sentenced to 109 Months in Prison For Possession and Transportation of Child Pornography

NEWARK, N.J. – A former caseworker for the New Jersey Department of Children and Family Services, Division of Child Protection and Permanency, was sentenced to 109 months in prison for possessing and transporting child pornography, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.

Trent Collier, 58, of Kearny, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti to an indictment charging him with one count of possession of child pornography and one count of transportation of child pornography.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On or about September 28, 2021, Collier arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport aboard a flight from the Dominican Republic. Upon his arrival, law enforcement searched Collier’s cellular phone and identified at least two images of child pornography. In a statement to law enforcement, Collier admitted that he had previously sent child pornography to at least one other individual using his cellular phone and that that individual also sent child pornography to Collier’s cellular phone. A further search of Collier’s cellular phone uncovered multiple additional videos of child pornography, including videos depicting the sexual exploitation of toddlers.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Martinotti sentenced Collier to 5 years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Habba credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel in Newark, and the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, under the direction of Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, with the investigation.

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: https://www.justice.gov/psc

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren D. Kober of the Criminal Division in Newark.

                                                                       ###

Defense counsel: Carol Dominguez, Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Newark, NJ