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An NJ child porn possession conviction can ruin your life. Not only are you facing decades in prison, but once you are released you will be ordered to live under extreme conditions.
If convicted of an NJ child porn possession charge, you will have to register as a sex offender & will most likely receive parole supervision for life. The judge will order that you be cut off from using a smartphone, accessing the internet, and perhaps prohibit you from being around children. We strongly urge you to retain an NJ child porn lawyer for these types of charges. The consequences can be devastating & cannot be undone.
Under NJSA 2C:24-4 5 (a), the government only has to prove three things for an NJ child porn conviction:
(a) A person commits a crime of the second degree if, by any means, including but not limited to the Internet, he:
(i) knowingly distributes an item depicting the sexual exploitation or abuse of a child;
(ii) knowingly possesses an item depicting the sexual exploitation or abuse of a child with the intent to distribute that item; or
(iii) knowingly stores or maintains an item depicting the sexual exploitation or abuse of a child using a file-sharing program which is designated as available for searching by or copying to one or more other computers.
An NJ child porn second-degree conviction will result in a 5-10 year prison sentence per count. If you are facing multiple charges, you are facing decades in prison.
When facing a NJ child porn possession charge, you need to understand the penalties you face. The government is under no obligation to offer a plea deal. The penalties range according to the NJ crime degree you are facing.
For example, a first-degree sex crime carries a ten-year mandatory minimum prison sentence.
Things get worse depending on the type of sex crime. If your charges involve a minor, then the NJ Megan’s law will apply & the judge will sentence you as a “sex offender”.
Under the No Early Release Act (NERA), you must serve 85% of your sentence. Also, the judge may very well impose Parole Supervision for Life.
State and Federal law enforcement agencies have unlimited resources for hunting NJ child porn cases. For example, the NJ State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force works closely with the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Together, the FBI and NJ State Police constantly hunt for online activity of NJ child porn cases and share information. The FBI has an entire unit devoted to child exploitation activity.
Here’s an excerpt from the FBI’s website regarding these types of cases:
Our Crimes Against Children Unit at FBI Headquarters coordinated the development of the National Sex Offenders Registry, which is currently managed by the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS). The National Sex Offender Registry is a database available only to law enforcement that is maintained by the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division.
If you are under a NJ child porn investigation, do not make your situation worse by providing a statement. You have the right to remain silent and request the services of an attorney.
If you plead guilty or are found guilty of an NJ child porn charge, your name will go on the NJ Sex Offender Registry.
Under Megan’s Law, convicted sex offenders must register with the local police. The following information must be provided:
The public can search for NJ child porn felons registered as sex offenders by name, address, or zip code.
Although NJ child porn cases have devastating consequences, the good news is that an experienced & skilled attorney will know how to defend you.
Here are a four possible defenses to NJ child porn cases:
Real Case:
During COVID, the client was a personal trainer who trained people at his home. As part of the training, he provided every client with his home’s Wi-Fi password. Often, while clients would wait for their personal training session, they would use his home’s Wi-Fi connection to access the internet.
Much to our client’s shock, the NJ State police appeared at his home early one morning to execute a search warrant. They seized his laptop, iPad, and cellphone. He faced decades in prison and was terrified.
After retaining our firm, we were able to show the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office that the client did not visit the child porn websites but rather, it was one of the men who had personal training sessions with him. The charges against him were dismissed.
2.It Is Reasonable to Believe that the Person Depicted is an Adult
Another defense to an NJ Child porn case is that you did not know that the person depicted in the image or video was a child. If you reasonably believed that the person depicted is an adult, this can provide a defense as well, and it will be up to the prosecution to prove that you should have known that the person depicted was a minor.
3. Entrapment by State or Federal Law Enforcement
Entrapment is a defense to child pornography charges under the law. In NJ child porn cases, your charges may be dismissed if you can show “by a preponderance of the evidence that his conduct occurred in response to an entrapment.” This means that law enforcement did something to put you in a situation that caused you to do what you did.
4. Illegal Searches
In NJ child porn cases, warrantless searches are presumptively invalid. This means that law enforcement cannot search your home or your electronic devices without a valid search warrant. If at any point during their investigation of your NJ child porn case, the police obtained the evidence against you in an unconstitutional manner, then that evidence cannot be admitted in court.
Dismissing Criminal Charges: 7 Ways to End the Nightmare
Sex crime cases are “fact-sensitive”. This means that no two situations are alike. A tiny detail could mean the difference between your freedom and a twenty-year prison sentence. When you hire our sex crime lawyers, we know which facts have a “legal significance”. After understanding your side of the story & reviewing the evidence against you, we build a strategic defense for you.
Legal defenses to a sex crime charge include:
Sometimes it only takes one of these legal defenses to win & other times it takes a combination of these.
As you have read, these charges carry serious consequences. If you have been charged or are under investigation for an NJ child porn case:
1st-degree felony charges in NJ are reserved for the most serious criminal offenses. Prison terms start at a minimum of 10 years in prison.
3rd-degree felony charges carry 3-5 years.
You have a good shot at PTI if you are charged with a 3rd-degree.
4th-degree felony charges carry up to 18 months in jail. These cases can get “remanded” to a lower court. In this way, you will be out of “felony” danger.
You or a loved one have been arrested. Understandably, you are terrified & have a lot of questions. You’ve heard about plea bargains & probation, but the process is overwhelming. You want a local attorney near you to represent you.
Mr. Peyrouton is from Ridgewood & handles all types of criminal matters in New Jersey complex as well as nearby cities. The New Jersey Law Journal recently published one of his articles on the subject of criminal law.
Regardless of the criminal charges you are facing, we are here to defend & protect you. Whether you are facing a restraining order, drug charge, theft charge, or aggravated assault charge, we are here to help you. Even a DWI case can really complicate your life.
If we can’t get your charges dismissed, we can either get them downgraded or place you in a diversionary program. The point is, our criminal defense lawyers will fight tirelessly to get you the best result possible. Take advantage of our free consultation to see how we can help.
Below, you will find a few of our practice areas.
Our criminal defense law firm handles criminal matters throughout Northern New Jersey — including, but not limited to, clients in the following localities:
BERGEN COUNTY, including Hackensack, NJ, Teaneck, Fort Lee, Fair Lawn, Garfield, Englewood, Bergenfield, Paramus, Mahwah, Cliffside Park, Ridgewood, Lodi, Lyndhurst, and Palisades Park;
PASSAIC COUNTY, including Paterson, Clifton, Passaic, Wayne, and West Milford;
HUDSON COUNTY, including Jersey City, Union City, Bayonne, North Bergen, Hoboken, West New York, Kearny, and Secaucus;
ESSEX COUNTY, including Newark, East Orange, Irvington, West Orange, Montclair, Belleville, City of Orange, Livingston, Nutley, Maplewood, and Millburn.
HACKENSACK OFFICE
200 Passaic St, Hackensack, NJ 07601
Phone: (201) 686-9538
alan@peyroutonlaw.com
No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Before making your choice of an attorney, you should give this matter careful thought. If this advertisement is inaccurate or misleading, you may report same to the Committee on Attorney Advertising at Hughes Justice Complex, P.O. Box 037, Trenton, NJ 08625
