Lakewood Man With 36,000 Child Porn Images Pleads Guilty

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Lakewood man who authorities say had one of the largest collections of child pornographyever seized in New Jersey, with more than 36,000 images, has pleaded guilty to a charge of distributing those images, the state attorney general's office said.

Anthony White, 31, of Lakewood, pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree charges of distributing child pornography and attempting to manufacture child pornography before Superior Court Judge Linda Baxter in Ocean County, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced.

Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that White be sentenced to six years in state prison, including three years of parole ineligibility and must register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will be subject to parole supervision for life, Grewal's office said. White is scheduled to be sentenced on May 8.

White was one of 40 men arrested in the July 2016 Operation Statewide child pornography sweep. The attorney general's office said detectives monitoring a peer-to-peer file-sharing network popular with sex offenders downloaded 38 videos and images of child pornography from a shared folder at a computer IP address later traced to White. White was arrested on July 20, 2016, when members of the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations and TEAMS units executed a search warrant at his home and seized his computers.

A forensic preview of the devices revealed over 36,000 videos and images of child pornography, Grewal's office said.

"Due to his twisted obsession, Anthony White amassed one of the largest collections of child pornography ever seized by New Jersey law enforcement,” said Colonel Patrick Callahan, acting superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “I am very proud of the investigative efforts of the State Police Digital Technology Unit and our law enforcement partners.”

In pleading guilty, White admitted that he knowingly used file-sharing software to make 25 or more files of child pornography readily available for any other user to download from the shared folderon his computer. He also that he tried to reproduce images of child pornography that he previously downloaded, which resulted in the manufacturing charge, prosecutors said.

"Each time we arrest an offender like White with thousands upon thousands of files of child pornography, it highlights the alarming scope of this problem and the number of children who are cruelly victimized and re-victimized in the creation and distribution of these abhorrent materials," Grewal said. “This plea reflects our resolve to use New Jersey’s tough child pornography laws to seek lengthy prison terms for those who participate in these crimes."

Anyone with information about distribution of child pornography on the internet – or about suspected improper contact by people communicating with children via the internet or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of children – to please contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 888-648-6007.

Anthony White photo provided by the state Attorney General's office