Hamilton
– Attorney General Peter C. Harvey
and State Police Superintendent Colonel
Rick Fuentes today announced the arrest
of 39 people on child pornography charges
resulting from a landmark investigation
in which detectives used new technology
to detect child pornography files shared
over the Internet, then traced them to
the computers on which they were stored.
Dubbed
Operation Guardian, the child pornography
investigation was conducted by New
Jersey State Police detectives from
the Child Protection and Cyber-Crime Bureau,
working in conjunction with the New Jersey
Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC)
Task Force and the New
Jersey Division of Criminal Justice
within the Office of the Attorney General.
According
to Harvey, those arrested range in age
from 14 to 61, and include a high-school
hockey coach, a lawyer and a pediatric
neurosurgeon. Detectives seized many computers
containing still photos and video images
of child pornography. Among the images
were a series of video clips showing the
molestation and rape of a five-year-old
girl in Georgia by a man now serving a
45-year prison term. In a number of cases,
investigators found evidence of child
pornography despite the presence of computer
software designed to permanently erase
files and remove Web site traces.
“We
will prosecute anyone who knowingly downloads
from the Internet and circulates images
of children who are being sexually exploited,”
Harvey said during a press briefing at
the state-of-the-art New Jersey State
Police Technology Center here. “We
will do everything we can to stop adults
who abuse, exploit and hurt children,
whether over the Internet or in the community.
Through technology and training, we are
constantly enhancing our ability to do
just that.”
The
investigation was spawned by the innovative
use of a file sifting technology by Special
Agent Flynt Waters of the Wyoming Internet
Crimes Against Children Task Force. Over
a two-day monitoring period, this software
detected images of child pornography and
traced them to 42 computer addresses in
New Jersey that received and/or offered
to circulate them. Troopers worked with
Deputy Attorneys General from the Division
of Criminal Justice to prepare subpoenas
leading to 38 search warrants, which were
executed between January 17 and January
27 of this year.
Colonel
Rick Fuentes voiced a sense of urgency
for the continuation of these investigations.
“Every time another person transmits
these sickening images, the children depicted
in them are victimized all over again,”
Fuentes said. “We want everyone
to know that those dealing in child porn
are on our radar, and we’re closing
in.”
“This
is not an issue of what people do in the
privacy of their homes,” Fuentes
added. “We’re interrupting
criminal careers. We believe that viewing
and transmitting these videos is part
of a timeline that may lead to stalking
criminal sexual contact with children.”
Some
of the most disturbing evidence uncovered
on seized computer media included a series
of clips showing James Bidwell in the
act of molesting and raping a five-year-old
girl. Bidwell, of Toccoa, Georgia, was
arrested after sending videotapes of these
crimes to Canada and England. Late in
2002, he pleaded guilty to rape and child
molestation charges and was sentenced
to 30 years. Federal charges related to
the creation and distribution of child
pornography tacked an additional 15 years
of jail time to Bidwell’s sentence.
In
addition to the seizure of computers and
images of child pornography, Operation
Guardian detectives seized a cache of
weapons, including assault rifles and
some illegal drugs. Several spin-off investigations
have already begun.
Experts
at State Police Headquarters in the Child
Protection and Cyber-Crimes Bureau will
examine some computer evidence from this
case while the bulk of the computer media
will be dissected by the N.J. Regional
Computer Forensic Laboratory (RCFL), located
on the site of today’s press announcement.
Unveiled in February of 2004, the RCFL
is an FBI-sponsored venture that includes
the New Jersey State Police, the Division
of Criminal Justice within the Office
of the Attorney General.
“It
is fitting that we are here at the new
State Police Technology Center today,
for it houses the RCFL, and the RCFL houses
a well-equipped forensic laboratory devoted
entirely to the examination of computer
evidence in support of criminal investigations,”
said Harvey. “It is a vital tool
in our effort to combat cyber-crime and
protect those who use the Internet.”
“The
pervasiveness of child pornography online
is a major concern for the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children,”
stated its President and CEO Ernie Allen.
“Reports of child pornography to
our CyberTipline have grown from 76,000
in 2003 to 106,000 last year. We are grateful
for the collaborative work of the New
Jersey State Police, the Internet Crimes
Against Children Task Force and the many
other agencies for their roles in Operation
Guardian. This is a tremendous example
of how improved technology, law enforcement
training, and teamwork can make a difference.”
NCMEC’s
CyberTipline, at www.cybertipline.com
or 1-800-843-5678, is a reporting mechanism
for child sexual exploitation. Since its
inception in 1998, analysts have handled
more than 300,000 reports with approximately
91% of those categorized as child pornography.
While
a significant success, Operation Guardian
is not the first time the State has undertaken
a major, multi-agency initiative to combat
child pornography. Operation Web Sweep,
an effort spearheaded by the Division
of Criminal Justice, resulted in the shutdown
of a Web site featuring child pornography,
the seizure of computer equipment and
software, and the identification of hundreds
of child pornography suspects in New Jersey,
throughout the United States and in other
countries. Operation Web Sweep involved
an unprecedented “reverse sting”
in cyber-space designed by the Division
of Criminal Justice’s Computer Analysis
and Technology Unit (CATU). Additional
law enforcement resources and expertise
were provided by the FBI, the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children
and more than 65 international, federal,
state, county and local law enforcement
agencies.
Agencies cooperating in Operation Guardian
include:
- National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children
- FBI
- Gloucester
County Prosecutor’s Office
- Long
Branch P.D.
- Roxbury
P.D.
- Division
of Criminal Justice
- N.J.
Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory
- U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, Child
Exploitation Group
- 19
county prosecutor’s offices
- 36
municipal police departments
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PARTIAL
LIST….. Subjects arrested in Operation
Guardian listed by County:
- Matthew
D. Fletcher, Sr. 33 Egg Hbr. Twp/Atl.
Poss/Dist and weapons chgs
- Christopher
J. McGovern 21 Galloway/Atlantic Possession/Distribution
- Juvenile
15 Lyndhurst/Bergen Possession/Distribution
- Shane
Binns 47 New Milford/Bgn. Warrants (spinoff)
- Simon
D. Debran 35 Garfield/Bergen Possession/Distribution
- Maximo
V. Paulino, Jr. 19 New Milford/Bgn.
Possession/Distribution
- Matthew
W. Brown 23 Mt. Holly/Burl. Possession/Distribution
- Mark
A. Jackson 37 Cinnaminson/Burl. Possession/Distribution
- Thomas
A. Pernicello 53 Mt. Holly/Burl. Poss.
Marijuana (spinoff)
- Juvenile
16 Clementon/Camden Possession/Distribution
- Peter
J. Volk 61 Ocean Cty/Cape May Possession/Distribution
- Juvenile
17 Millville/Cumb. Possession/Distribution
- Kenneth
Carberry 49 Millville/Cumb. Possession
- Robert
Morris 38 Vineland/Cumb. Possession/Distribution
- James
Blundell, Jr. 36 National Park/Glo.
Possession/Distribution
- Brian
C. Horner 33 Woodbury/Glo. Possession/Distribution
- Juvenile
17 Fort Lee/Hudson Possession
- Carey
Guillaume 19 Secaucus/Hudson Possession
- Sergio
Sanchez 33 Union City/Hudson Possession/Distribution
- Juvenile
16 Hamilton/Mercer Possession/Distribution
- Juvenile
15 E Brunswick/Mdsx Possession/Distribution
- Eric
Szkola 37 Perth Amboy/Mdsx Possession/Distribution
- Rigoberto
Garro 40 Eatontown/Monm Possession/Distribution
- Adrian
Mendoza 21 Neptune/Monmouth Possession/Distribution
- Ross B. Finesmith 43
Basking Rdg/Morris Possession/Distribution
- Andrew
Friedman 27 Morristown/Morris Possession/Distribution
- Blake
Kishpaugh 19 Flander/Morris Possession/Distribution
- Juvenile
14 Brick/Ocean Not charged at present
- Matthew
Foberg 20 Lakewood/Ocean Possession/Distribution
- Frederick
Krage 5th * 21 Jackson/Ocean Possession/Distribution
- Douglas
R. Hancock 40 Bloomingdale/Pass. Possession
- Joseph
Napoleone 39 Haskell/Passaic Possession
- Richard
R. Newton II 42 Pennsville/Salem Possession/Distribution
- Juvenile
17 Landing/Sussex Possession/Distribution
- Juvenile
15 Hopatcong/Sussex Possession
*
Registered Sex Offender
Note regarding juveniles: Some juvenile
subjects may be tried as adults
Note regarding charges: Some subjects
charged only with possession may receive
additional charges after a forensic examination
of the evidence in their cases.
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