Fmr. Juvie Officer, Lacey Man Admits To Distributing Child Porn

LACEY, NJ — A former juvenile detention officer who lived in Lacey at the time of his arrest admitted to distributing child pornography, according to U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito. Michael A. Ruggiero, who worked at an unnamed facility, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of distributing child pornography.

Ruggiero used a mobile chat app to distribute images and videos of child sexual abuse from April 16-19, 2016, according to authorities. Some were of children under age 12, officials said.

Ruggiero, 37, admitted he had images and videos of child abuse on his phone at the time of his arrest at work in June 2017, officials said.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 3. He faces a minimum of five years and maximum of 20 years in prison, plus a $250,000 fine.

The investigation began after Canadian law enforcement officials were contacted by Saskatchewan police about images they found on a cell phone belonging to a man they had arrested for parole violations, authorities said. The distributed images were eventually traced back to Ruggiero, according to the Office of Attorney General.

Authorities found 10 images and two videos had been distributed, apparently from a Bayville address and sent from a mobile phone traced back to Ruggiero, according to officials.

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