U.S. Department
of Justice
Sussex County Man Sentenced To 80 Months For Distribution Of Child Pornography
NEWARK, N.J. – A Sussex County, New Jersey, man was sentenced to 80 months for distributing videos and images of child sexual abuse, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.
Gaetano Lapegna, 67, of Franklin, New Jersey previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi to an information charging one count of distribution of child pornography. Judge Cecchi imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From December 2022 to March 2023, Lapegna distributed videos and images of child sexual abuse via a publicly available online peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing program. During the course of the investigation, an undercover law enforcement officer conducted online sessions using the P2P program, during which a user shared hundreds of videos and images of child sexual abuse from an IP address traced to Lapegna’s address.
Subsequent to a lawful search of his residence on March 30, 2023, law enforcement officers recovered over 100 items depicting child pornography on Lapegna’s thumb drive. Law enforcement also found that Lapegna’s computer was running the same version of the P2P program from which law enforcement downloaded child pornography from Lapegna.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Cecchi sentenced Lapegna to five years of supervised release and ordered restitution of $50,000.
U.S. Attorney Habba credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations Newark, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. She also thanked the United States Postal Inspection Service, Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office, and Franklin Borough Police Department for their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Farhana C. Melo of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
Defense counsel: Claressa Lowe Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Newark