Celalletti “Steve” Koc, 26, of Hamilton, N.J., pleaded guilty to a second-degree charge of distributing child pornography before Superior Court Judge Timothy P. Lydon in Mercer County. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Koc be sentenced to five years in state prison, including 2 ½ years of parole ineligibility. He will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law. Deputy Attorney General Lilianne Daniel prosecuted Koc and took the guilty plea for the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer Crimes Bureau. Koc is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 9.

In pleading guilty, Koc admitted that prior to his arrest on Oct. 17, 2013, 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 an office computer at his business, SK Auto on Kuser Road in Hamilton. The investigating agencies executed a search warrant at the business on the day of his arrest, seizing a tower computer and a laptop computer. They also conducted a search of his apartment, with his consent, and seized a second laptop computer. A forensic examination of the computers at the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory in Hamilton revealed more than 160 videos of child pornography, including child rape videos, and more than 120 images of child pornography.

“Individuals like Koc who share child pornography online put themselves in league with the predators who rape and sexually exploit children to produce these abhorrent materials, directly motivating their horrific crimes against innocent children,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “Everyone who joins that deviant network is guilty of cruelly victimizing and re-victimizing vulnerable children, and they belong behind bars.”

“We want every offender who trolls the Internet for child pornography to know that we in law enforcement also are out there in cyberspace, and we’re trolling for them,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “We have the technology to catch those who share these odious materials, and we’re determined to send them to prison.”

“Child predators rob children of their youth and innocence. One child victimized by a pedophile is one too many,” said Andrew M. McLees, Special Agent in Charge of ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Newark. “This joint effort with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Division of Criminal Justice is a clear indication of HSI’s resolve to seek out those who sexually exploit innocent children.”

During Operation Predator Alert, special agents of HSI monitored an online file-sharing network that is popular with offenders who download and trade child pornography. Using advanced technology, the agents searched for telltale digital “fingerprints” of known child pornography, as well as search terms used by those who download and share child pornography. Through these and other methods, they identified New Jersey residents who were downloading child pornography and making child pornography available to others in “shared folders” on their computers. The files included videos showing pre-pubescent boys and girls being raped or being coerced into performing sexual acts on themselves or others. The Division of Criminal Justice obtained arrest warrants, which they executed with HSI and numerous other law enforcement agencies.

The file-sharing networks used by offenders to distribute child pornography operate in the same manner as websites used for privately sharing music or movies. Those in possession of the illegal images can make them available on computers that they control for others to download. Because many of these videos and photos of child pornography keep recirculating, they result in the perpetual re-victimization of the children who were sexually assaulted or abused to produce them.

Special agents for the ICE Homeland Security Investigations Cherry Hill and Newark Offices conducted Operation Predator Alert II under the supervision of Special Agent in Charge Andrew M. McLees. It was supervised and conducted for the Division of Criminal Justice by Supervising Deputy Attorney General Michael Monahan, who is Chief of the Financial & Computer Crimes Bureau, Supervising Deputy Attorney General Kenneth Sharpe, who is Deputy Bureau Chief, Lt. Lisa Shea and Detective Sgt. Thomas Turley; Deputy Attorneys General Jillian Carpenter, Lilianne Daniel, Denise Grugan, Naju Lathia, Marie McGovern and Anand Shah; Detectives Abraham Aquino, Richard DaSilva, Cheryl Smith, Kimberly Allen, Matthew Burd, William Jett, Ryan Kirsh, Suzanna Lopez, Jessica Maracacci, Heather Pittman, Robert Rosa, Katelyn Sake, Andrew Shrader, and Danielle Terracianno; and Executive Assistant Cynthia Ronan and Administrative Assistant Lori Pannone. It was supervised and conducted for the State Police by Detective Sgt. Christopher DeAngelis, Detective Sgt. Keith Young, and Detectives Christopher Camm, Brian Kearns, Brett Munch and Joe Santamaria.

The agencies that participated in Operation Predator Alert II with the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice and the Cherry Hill and Newark Offices of ICE Homeland Security Investigations include: New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit, New Jersey State Police Buena Vista, Port Norris, Red Lion and Woodstown Stations, New Jersey Department of Children and Families, Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office, Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, Salem County Prosecutor’s Office, Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, Union County Prosecutor’s Office, Bellmawr Police Department, Cherry Hill Police Department, Eastampton Police Department, East Brunswick Police Department, Egg Harbor Township Police Department, Elizabeth Police Department, Erma Police Department, Flemington Police Department, Delanco Police Department, Franklin Township Police Department, Elizabeth Police Department, Hamilton Police Department, Linden Police Department, Lower Township Police Department, Middle Township Police Department,
Montgomery Township Police Department, North Hanover Police Department, Pemberton Township Police Department, Pennsauken Police Department, Pennsauken Fire Department, Trenton Police Department, Woodstown Borough Police Department, Camden County Sheriff’s Office, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, Salem County Sheriff’s Office and Somerset County Sheriff’s Office.

Acting Attorney General Hoffman and Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice urged anyone with information about the distribution of child pornography on the Internet – or about suspected improper contact by unknown persons communicating with children via the Internet or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of children – to please contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 1-888-648-6007.

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