Oliver P. Becerra De La Cruz, 38, of Summit, N.J., was sentenced to five years in state prison, including 25 months of parole ineligibility, by Superior Court Judge William A. Daniel in Union County. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 19 to second-degree distribution of child pornography. He will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will be subject to parole supervision for life.

In pleading guilty, De La Cruz 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. Numerous videos of child pornography, including child rape videos, were found on his computer.

“Those who share child pornography online share in the brutal exploitation of innocent children by promoting and creating a market for these vile materials,” said Attorney General Porrino. “Offenders like De La Cruz directly motivate those who sexually abuse children to create child pornography, and they perpetually re-victimize the children whose images can never be erased from the internet.”

“We want offenders who collect and distribute child pornography online to know that we’re monitoring them,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “We have the technology and the will to detect their file-sharing activity, identify them and send them to prison.”

Deputy Attorney General Joseph Remy prosecuted De La Cruz and handled the sentencing for the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer Crimes Bureau. Detective Laura Hurley and former Detective Tiffany Lenart of the Division of Criminal Justice were the lead detectives for the investigation.

In April and May 2016, detectives from the Division of Criminal Justice were investigating individuals 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. A detective downloaded a video of a prepubescent girl being raped by an adult male from a shared folder at the IP address, which was traced to De La Cruz’s residence in Summit. On May 25, 2016, detectives from the Division of Criminal Justice executed a search warrant at the residence, where they arrested De La Cruz and seized computer equipment, including a laptop computer. A forensic preview of the laptop revealed approximately 64 files of suspected child pornography in a shared folder set up by De La Cruz.

Attorney General Porrino and Director Honig urged anyone with information about the distribution of child pornography on the internet – or about suspected improper contact by unknown persons communicating with children online or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of children – to please contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force tip line at 888-648-6007.

Defense Attorney:
Jonathan Petty, Esq., Law Offices of William M. Fetky, New Brunswick, N.J.

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