TRENTON –Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that a Mercer County man who used a file-sharing network to distribute videos and images of child pornography was sentenced to state prison today. He was arrested in “Operation Safeguard,” possessing explicit images of minors sweep conducted by the Division of Criminal Justice, ICE Homeland Security Investigations and the New Jersey State Police.
Officials say Mr. Robert A. Kunert, 25, of Hamilton, N.J., was sentenced today to three years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Darlene J. Pereksta in Mercer County. Kunert pleaded guilty on July 27 to a second-degree charge of distribution of explicit images of minors. He will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law. In pleading guilty, Kunert admitted that he knowingly used file-sharing software to make multiple files containing explicit images of minors readily available for any other user to download from a designated “shared folder” on his computer. Investigators found more than 250 suspected files of explicit images of minors in a shared folder on his laptop computer.
Deputy Attorney General Joseph Remy prosecuted Kunert and handled the sentencing for the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer Crimes Bureau.
“Offenders like Kunert who share explicit images of minors online contribute to the terrible sexual abuse and exploitation of young children by distributing and creating demand for these vile materials,” said Attorney General Grewal. “To protect children, we need to send a message that these are never victimless crimes – they are serious crimes that will result in substantial prison sentences.”
“We will continue our aggressive efforts to prosecute those who share explicit images of minors online,” said Director Veronica Allende of the Division of Criminal Justice. “Offenders like Kunert might believe they are hidden from sight when they commit their crimes, but we have the technology and the determination to find them and bring them to justice.”
“When a child abuser like Kunert shares an online folder containing more than 250 files of sexual abuse and torture of children, he is not only promoting this abhorrent behavior, he is encouraging others to do more than just share a file, but creating one,” said Colonel Patrick Callahan of the New Jersey State Police. “Thanks to the outstanding work of the State Police Digital Technology and Investigations Unit and our partners, Robert Kunert will have nothing to share for the next few years other than a prison cell.”
“This is another case where interagency cooperation has taken a serious sexual predator offline, in this case, one distributing the most repulsive kinds of images imaginable,” said Brian Michael, Special Agent in Charge for HSI, Newark. “The message should be clear to all who traffic in such disturbing images of innocent children: the combined efforts of state, local and federal law enforcement will find them wherever they lurk.”