A former Boy Scout leader was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in New Jersey State Prison following his conviction on 11 explicit images of minors charges in a case brought by the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp.
Stephen Corcoran, 49, of Parsippany, was sentenced by Judge Thomas Critchley in state Superior Court, Morristown.
Judge Critchley noted that the crimes involved the “cruel and damaging exploitation of children.”
Corcoran was found guilty April 12 on 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child by possessing explicit images of minors on a thumb drive and one count of exhibiting or showing explicit images of minors to someone else.
Specifically, he was sentenced to five years on the one count of showing explicit images of minors to someone else and two years total on the 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Those terms will be served consecutively, bringing Corcoran’s total sentence to seven years in prison.
Corcoran also faces trial on sexually abusing three juveniles who were Boy Scouts in the 1990s. Those charges were severed from the pornography case and the jury was not told about them. Despite this accusation, the defendant is presumed innocent on these charges unless, or until, he is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
The case came to light in 2011 during an investigation into the alleged sexual assaults. Evidence presented at trial established that a witness disclosed that Corcoran had exhibited explicit images of minors to him and law enforcement officials subsequently recovered a thumb drive containing explicit images of minors images and videos from Corcoran’s home.