Paroled Sex Offender From Brick Arrested On Child Porn Charge

TRENTON, NJ — A Brick Township man who was on supervised release following a conviction on child pornography possession has been arrested on a charge that he distributed child pornography, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said Monday.

Andrew Ramey, 34, of Brick, was arrested Nov. 13 and is being held without bail after he appeared by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lois H. Goodman.

Authorities allege he distributed photos and videos of child sex abuse through a peer-to-peer file sharing service called the BitTorrent Network from March 13 through June 8. On Nov. 13, when they searched Ramey's mobile phone, they found hundreds of photos and videos of child sexual abuse, including videos of children as young as 4 or 5 years old engaged in sex acts, according to the complaint filed in federal court.

Ramey was charged with one count each of distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography, and faces a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 40 years in prison if convicted on the distribution charge. The possession charge carries a minimum of 10 years in prison if convicted.

He was convicted in federal court of possession of child pornography on Nov. 29, 2018, and sentenced to a year in prison plus nine years of supervised release. He was released Dec. 9, 2019, and has been living in Brick since then, authorities said.

Carpenito credited special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations Atlantic City, under the direction of Newark Special-Agent-in-Charge Jason J. Molina; detectives of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer; the Brick Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Riccio; and the Mount Laurel Police Department, under the direction of Chief Stephen Riedener, with the investigation leading to the arrest.

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