Union County Teacher Sentenced to 275 Months in Prison For Producing Child Pornography

NEWARK, N.J. – A Union County, New Jersey, man who was employed as a New Jersey high school teacher, was sentenced to 275 months in prison for producing child pornography, Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Attorney Alina Habba announced.

Michael Hamilton, 53, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Christine P. O’Hearn to an Information charging him with one count of producing child pornography.  Judge O’Hearn imposed the sentence in Camden federal court.

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

Hamilton admitted to meeting a minor victim and engaging in sexual conduct with that victim, which Hamilton recorded on video. Law enforcement seized a copy of that video during the search of his home in October 2023. Hamilton also admitted to receiving and possessing sexually explicit messages, pictures, and videos of two other minor victims.

In addition to the prison term, Judge O’Hearn sentenced Hamilton to 10 years of supervised release, and to pay restation of $5,000 to a victim.

“There is no higher responsibility than safeguarding the welfare of our children. The defendant took advantage of children for his own sexual desires. We will continue to protect children and bring justice to sexual predators. I commend the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and our law enforcement partners for their critical work reaching this result.”

- Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Attorney Alina Habba

Acting U.S. Attorney Habba credited FBI Newark’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy, with the investigation.  Acting U.S. Attorney Habba also thanked the Springfield Police Department and the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.

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 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 Rebecca Sussman of the Narcotics and International Trafficking Unit and Robert Taj Moore of the Cybercrime Unit in Newark.

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Defense counsel: Randy Davenport, Esq.