Brick Man Admits Sexually Abusing 2 Infants, Taking Photos: Feds

TRENTON, NJ — A Brick Township man admitted taking photos of himself sexually abusing infants that were less than six months old, photos that authorities found during a child pornography investigation, the U.S. Attorney's office announced Wednesday.

Sebastien Attar, 35, of Brick, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton to two counts of sexual exploitation of children, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Separately, Attar also pleaded guilty before Judge Sheridan to a superseding indictment charging him with one count of advertising child pornography.

Attar was initially identified as part of an investigation into a private chat group named "Taboo Train 2.0" in mid-2017 where users discussion and shared images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.

Carpenito's office said Attar, under the username "Seb Seb," on multiple occasions and in response to requests from other users, shared images depicting sexual acts between adults and very young children.

A search warrant was executed at Attar's home in March 2018 and federal law enforcement agents seized a number of electronic devices and electronic storage media. Attar was indicted in July 2018 by a grand jury sitting in the Northern District of Georgia, on a charge of advertising child pornography.

A January 2019 forensic review of the devices seized from Attar's home turned up graphic images in which an individual – later identified as Attar – had photographed himself engaged in sexual acts with two infants, "estimated to be less than one month old and less than six months old, respectively, at the time the images were produced," Carpenito's office said.

Upon discovery of the images, Attar was arrested and charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of New Jersey.

The Georgia indictment was formally transferred to the District of New Jersey so that Attar could plead guilty to that charge in conjunction with his guilty plea to the charges of taking the photos of himself abusing the infants, Carpenito's office said.

Attar faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison on each of the two counts of sexual exploitation of children, with a maximum of 30 years in prison, and a maximum fine of $250,000 on each count.

The plea agreement, if accepted by the court, would result in Attar serving a stipulated total sentence between 30 and 40 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 3, Carpenito's office said.

Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI-Newark Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie, and special agents of the FBI-Atlanta Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge J.C. Hacker, with the investigations and thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, under the direction of U.S. Attorney Byung J. Pak, for its assistance.

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