An ex-cop with the Madison Police Department received two years of probation, but avoided prison time, after pleading guilty to criminal charges of possessing child pornography.
According to law enforcement, the suspect was on the receiving end of illicit sexual images sent by an underage teenage girl. At the time of the sexual offense, the suspect was employed as a Madison NJ police officer. Morris County prosecutors said that the suspect actually admitted to receiving the nude photographs on multiple occasions over a six-month period spanning parts of 2015 and 2016.
The alleged sexual offense victim was a 17-year-old girl who resided in Brunswick, Ohio. Ohio law enforcement opened an investigation into the suspect in February 2016 after learning that the victim had sent nude images of herself to the suspect by using her online Twitter account. Brunswick Ohio police eventually notified Madison NJ police, which eventually alerted the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes/Child Endangerment Unit.
The suspect is a 33-year-old male who lives in Bernards Township, NJ. Earlier this year, he entered a guilty plea on criminal charges of possession of child pornography, which is considered a form of child endangerment in New Jersey.
The suspect’s plea agreement with the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office calls for him to receive probation and avoid prison. If the sex crime case had gone to trial, the suspect would have been at risk of receiving a sentence of 3-5 years in New Jersey State Prison on third degree endangering the welfare of a child charges.
The suspect’s plea deal also called for him to resign from his job as a Madison police officer. In addition, the suspect will be prohibited from seeking or maintaining employment as a public employee in NJ in any other capacity going forward.
When the suspect made an appearance in Morris County Superior Court in Morristown NJ for a formal sentencing hearing, he was also ordered to undergo psychological treatment.
The child pornography case has negatively affected the Madison Police Department, with the sex crime charges against the suspect causing some in the community to doubt the honesty and integrity of the entire police force. The defendant had been a police officer in Madison NJ since 2007.
For further information about this case, read the NJ.com article, “Former Cop Who Received Nude Photos from Teen Gets Probation.”