Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that a man who possessed over 6,000 videos and explicit images of minors on his computers was sentenced to prison today.
Officials say Kevin M. Groeger, 64, of Carteret, was sentenced today to five years in prison, including 2 ½ years of parole ineligibility, by Superior Court Judge Benjamin S. Bucca Jr. in Middlesex County. He pleaded guilty on Oct. 12, 2018 to second-degree distribution of explicit images of minors. Groeger must register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will be subject to parole supervision for life.
Officials say Groeger was among 79 predators and offenders arrested in November 2017. Ten alleged predators were arrested in the operation, including eight New Jersey men and two men in California and Indiana who allegedly tried to have minors transported interstate for sex.
According to authorities, Groeger was arrested on June 1, when detectives and troopers from the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit and TEAMS Central Unit, assisted by the Carteret Police Department, executed a search warrant at his residence. A detective of the State Police DTIU previously had downloaded 12 files of explicit images of minors from a shared folder at an IP address traced to Groeger.
During the search, detectives seized computers and related storage devices belonging to Groeger. A forensic examination of Groeger’s devices conducted at the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory revealed over 6,000 files of explicit images of minors in a shared folder which could be accessed by other users of a file-sharing network.
Attorney General Grewal and Director Allende urged anyone who has information about the distribution of explicit images of minors on the internet – or who suspects improper contact by persons communicating with minors via the internet or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of minors – to contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 888-648-6007.