Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced that a Gloucester County man who had over 76,000 videos and images of Explicit Images of Minors on his computer devices when he was arrested last year in “Operation Statewide” pleaded guilty today to distributing Explicit Images of Minors.
Forty men were arrested in “Operation Statewide,” a Explicit Images of Minors sweep by the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which includes the New Jersey State Police, Division of Criminal Justice, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, and numerous state, county and local law enforcement agencies.
John H. DeFay Jr., 48, of Pitman, who was employed as an IT manager for a private business at the time of his arrest, pleaded guilty today to a second-degree charge of distribution of Explicit Images of Minors before Superior Court Judge Robert P. Becker in Gloucester County.
Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that DeFay be sentenced to seven 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 and will be subject to parole supervision for life.
Judge Becker scheduled sentencing for DeFay for Jan. 12, 2018.
In pleading guilty, DeFay admitted that he knowingly used file-sharing software to make multiple files of Explicit Images of Minors readily available for any other user to download from a “shared folder” on his computer. While monitoring a peer-to-peer file-sharing network popular with sex offenders, a detective of the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit (DTIU) downloaded over a dozen videos and images of Explicit Images of Minors from a shared folder at a computer IP address that was subsequently traced to DeFay.
DeFay was arrested on July 13, 2016, when members of the DTIU and State Police TEAMS South Unit executed a search warrant at his home and seized computer equipment, including a desktop computer with an attached hard drive. Forensic examinations of the devices revealed more than 76,000 videos and images of Explicit Images of Minors, constituting one of the largest collections of Explicit Images of Minors ever seized by law enforcement in New Jersey.
“The number of children who were raped and abused to create the abhorrent materials found on DeFay’s computer could populate a small city,” said Attorney General Porrino. “Those children were victimized to satisfy the deviant desires of men like DeFay, and they are re-victimized each time such offenders share and view their images online. We’ll continue to make these cases a top priority in order to protect and seek justice for children.”
Attorney General Porrino and Director Honig urged anyone with information about 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 please contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 888-648-6007.