Roberto Arreola-Ramirez, 33, of New Brunswick, was sentenced to five years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Bradley J. Ferencz in Middlesex County. He will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law. Arreola-Ramirez pleaded guilty on Oct. 31, 2013 to charges of second-degree distribution of child pornography and fourth-degree possession of child pornography. Arreola-Ramirez also is the subject of a detainer filed by federal immigration authorities.

In pleading guilty, Arreola-Ramirez admitted that he knowingly used Internet file-sharing software to make files containing child pornography readily available for any other user to download from a designated “shared folder” on his computer. Deputy Attorney General Naju Lathia handled the sentencing for the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer Crimes Bureau. Deputy Attorney General Marie G. McGovern took the guilty plea.

“By sharing child pornography on these peer-to-peer networks, offenders perpetually re-victimize children who have been raped and abused,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “The victims face the agonizing reality that they forever will be sexually exploited on the Internet by perverts who obtain gratification from their suffering and loss of innocence. We will aggressively pursue justice for these victims by sending those who share these repulsive materials to prison.”

“We want the offenders who use these file-sharing networks to know that they are not just sharing child pornography with each other, they are sharing it with law enforcement, and their next download may be the one that sends them to prison,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice.

In September 2012, the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigation Unit and other members of the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) from cooperating agencies were investigating individuals who were using file-sharing software to share child pornography on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network on the Internet, when they identified a computer that was being used to share child pornography. Detectives downloaded two files of child pornography from a shared folder on the computer. State Police detectives subsequently traced the computer to Arreola-Ramirez’s apartment in New Brunswick, where they arrested him on Oct. 17, 2012. A forensic preview of Arreola-Ramirez’s computer revealed hundreds of filed containing images and videos of child pornography.

Acting Attorney General Hoffman and Director Honig urged anyone who has information about the distribution of child pornography on the Internet or who suspects improper contact by unknown persons communicating with children via the Internet or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of children to contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 888-648-6007.

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