Monmouth County, New Jersey, Man Admits Possessing, Distributing Images Of Child Sexual Abuse

TRENTON, N.J. – A Long Branch, New Jersey, man today admitted using his computer to possess and distribute images of child sexual abuse via a peer-to-peer file-sharing network, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Donald Haring, 61, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with possession and distribution of child pornography. 

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

Haring admitted that he knowingly used a computer from his home to share images and videos of child sexual abuse with other members of a publicly-available, peer-to-peer file-sharing network. Haring also admitted to possessing at least three videos and 600 images of child sexual abuse on his computer and other electronic devices.

Haring faces a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison, a minimum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and up to a lifetime of supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 7, 2016.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Terence S. Opiola, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan M. Peck of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

Defense counsel:  Charles M. Moriarty, Esq.