TRENTON – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that a Burlington County man who had hundreds of items of child pornography on his laptop computer was sentenced to prison Thursday for distributing child pornography online through a peer-to-peer network.
According to officials Michael D. Gordon, 34, of Bordentown City, was sentenced to five years in state prison, including 2 ½ years of parole ineligibility, by Superior Court Judge James J. Morley in Burlington County. Gordon pleaded guilty on July 17, 2019 to a second-degree charge of distribution of child pornography.
Offcials say 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, Gordon admitted that he knowingly used file-sharing software to make multiple items of Explicit Images of Minors readily available for any other user to download from a “shared folder” on his computer.
Deputy Attorney General Supriya Prasad prosecuted Gordon and handled the sentencing for the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Cyber Crimes Bureau. Gordon was arrested in April 2019 as the result of an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice, conducted with assistance from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and the Bordentown City Police Department.
A detective of the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Cyber Crimes Bureau was monitoring an online file-sharing network that is popular with Explicit Images of Minors offenders when he identified a computer address that was sharing Explicit Images of Minors.
On multiple occasions, the detective successfully downloaded hundreds of items of Explicit Images of Minors being shared from that IP address, which was traced to Gordon’s home in Bordentown City.
Officials say on April 3, 2019, detectives of the Division of Criminal Justice, assisted by agents of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and officers of the Bordentown City Police Department, executed a search warrant at Gordon’s home, arresting him and seizing his computer devices.
The devices were brought to the Division of Criminal Justice Forensics Laboratory, where a forensic examination of his laptop computer revealed over 600 images and videos of Explicit Images of Minors.
“By viewing and redistributing child pornography, offenders like Gordon participate in the cruel sexual exploitation of innocent children— children whose images can never be erased from the internet,” said Attorney General Grewal. “Protecting children is our highest priority, and we will continue to collaborate across all levels of law enforcement to send these offenders to prison.”
“We want offenders who download and share child pornography to know that they may face longer prison sentences based on the extent of their collections and their distribution activities,” said Director Veronica Allende of the Division of Criminal Justice. “New Jersey has tough Explicit Images of Minors laws, and we will continue to make strong use of them as we investigate and prosecute these offenders.”
Attorney General Grewal commended Deputy Attorney General Prasad and the detectives who conducted the investigation for the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Cyber Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Julia Glass. AG Grewal also thanked U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and the Bordentown City Police Department for their valuable assistance.
Attorney General Grewal and Director Allende urged anyone with information about the distribution of Explicit Images of Minors 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 contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 888-648-6007.