Somerset County, New Jersey, Man Sentenced To 34 Years In Prison For Production And Transportation Of Images Of Child Sexual Abuse

NEWARK, N.J. – A Watchung, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 408 months in prison for producing and transporting sexually explicit videos of children, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Patrick T. Deck, 54, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas to an information charging him with two counts of transportation of child pornography. Judge Salas imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

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

On Aug. 12, 2012, Deck was arrested at the Land of Make Believe amusement park in Hope, New Jersey, by the N.J. State Police for allegedly filming children, without their or their parents’ knowledge, in the men’s restroom. The following day, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Deck’s home in Watchung and discovered multiple videos and images containing child sexual abuse on Deck’s computers and other electronic devices.

Deck also admitted that between 1997 and 2010, he transported two minors, beginning when they were approximately 11 years old, to locations across the country, including New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Montana for the purpose of filming the minors in sexually explicit conduct. Deck produced the videos and images of child pornography and then transported those images back to his home in Watchung. In 1988, Deck was convicted in N.J. Superior Court, Burlington County, of two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Those convictions arose out of prior incidents where Deck photographed or filmed minors engaged in prohibited sexual acts.

As part of his guilty plea, Deck agreed to forfeit the video cameras and other devices that he used to commit the offense. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Salas sentenced Deck to serve a lifetime of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Newark Division, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin Kelly; the N.J. State Police, under the direction of Col. Rick Fuentes; and the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Richard T. Burke, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francisco J. Navarro of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark.

Defense counsel: James Wronko Esq., Somerville, New Jersey