South Jersey Fire Chief Charged With Using Fire Station Computer to Share Child Pornography

A Marlton man who serves as the fire chief of the Audubon Park Volunteer Fire Company was charged with using a computer at the fire station to share over 1,000 images of suspected child pornography, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said on Thursday.

John Terruso, 44, was charged with second-degree distribution of child pornography and third-degree possession of child pornography.

He was arrested at the fire station Wednesday night after investigators executed a search warrant at the station.

At that time, investigators seized four laptop computers – including a computer personally owned by Terruso – a desktop computer, two external hard drives, a tablet, thumb drives, and cell phones.

Terruso was lodged in the Camden County Jail with bail set at $150,000, no 10 percent.

“We charge that Terruso sordidly abused the trust placed in him as fire chief by viewing and sharing child pornography at the fire station,” Hoffman said. “In doing so, he allegedly linked himself to the depraved network of offenders who, by sharing child pornography, perpetually re-victimize the children involved and directly motivate those who sexually exploit and torture children to create these vile materials.”

Terruso allegedly knowingly used Internet file-sharing software to make multiple files of child pornography available for any other user to download from “shared folders” that he controlled on a computer at the fire station on Road C.

He faces five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000 for the second degree charge and five years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000 for the third degree charge.

“During the past three years, we have worked with HSI and the New Jersey State Police to charge over 100 offenders with child pornography crimes, including 80 offenders charged in three major sweeps targeting those who use file-sharing networks to distribute child pornography,” Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice said. “This case is particularly egregious because Terruso allegedly used his position as fire chief to commit these crimes in a public facility.”

“To discover that someone the public counts on in times of the direst need is allegedly victimizing the most vulnerable members of our community is both heartbreaking and disturbing,” Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark Acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin Kelly said. “HSI will continue to work with our partners in the Division of Criminal Justice to pursue these kinds of cases, stop the criminals and bring them to justice.”

The investigation began when a special agent with HSI Newark was monitoring a file-sharing network popular with offenders who seek child pornography.

The agent used advanced technology to search for telltale digital “fingerprints” of known child pornography as well as search terms associated with child pornography.

He allegedly identified an Internet Protocol address, ultimately traced to a computer at the fire station, which had child pornography available in a shared folder.

He partially downloaded a video from the folder that allegedly showed an adult man raping a prepubescent girl.

During the investigation, he identified alleged additional child pornography in a shared folder on a computer at the fire station, including alleged videos of prepubescent boys having sex with other boys and adult males.

Terruso was allegedly identified as the man sharing the child pornography.

The Division of Criminal Justice and HSI Newark led the investigation, with assistance from the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office and the Haddon Township Police Department.

The attached image of John Terruso was provided by the Attorney General’s Office