NEWARK, N.J. – A Passaic County, man has been indicted on charges of distributing, receiving, and possessing images of child sexual abuse, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today.
According to federal officials Vaughn Tiedeman, 46, of West Milford, is charged by indictment, returned by a federal grand jury on Dec. 4, 2019.
With one count of distributing explicit images of minors, one count of receiving explicit images of minors , and one count of possessing explicit images of minors Tiedeman was initially charged by complaint in April 2019.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Between July 2018 and January 2019, Tiedeman used the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing network to distribute more than 50 video files and 100 image files containing images of child sexual abuse.
On April 1, 2019, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Tiedeman’s home and found approximately 6,800 unique still images and 120 unique videos containing images of child sexual abuse.
The distribution and receipt charges each carry a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of possession of explicit images of minors carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian Michael, with the investigation leading to the charges.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah A. Sulkowski of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Cybercrime Unit in Newark.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.