By: Richard L. Smith
U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger reported the sentencing of a Bridgeton resident for distributing and possessing explicit images/videos of minors Wednesday.
According to federal officials, Edwin Torres, aka “Macho Torres,” 39, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams to a single county of possessing explicit pictures.
Judge Williams imposed the eight-year sentence in Camden federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
In May 2020, a user of a social media application uploaded to a public chat group multiple videos of child sexual abuse from an internet provider address linked to Torres’ residence.
In September 2021, law enforcement agents executed search warrants at Torres’ residence and on a Google account associated with the social media used to distribute the videos in May 2020.
The Google account, which also had been accessed from Torres’ residence, contained over 100 videos of explicit child abuse, including videos whose content matched the videos distributed in May 2020.
While searching Torres’ residence, agents seized Torres’ cellular telephone, which had been used to access the same Google account.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Williams sentenced Torres to five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $15,000 in restitution.