Man Who Attacked Detectives Jailed On Child Porn Charges: AG

A Mercer County man who tried to steal a detective’s gun during a warrant search of his home for child pornography has been sentenced to jail, authorities announced on Friday.

Peifeng Meng, 45, of Pennington, was sentenced to five years in state prison, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced. He must serve two years, six months of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

Meng will also be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will be subject to parole supervision for life, authorities said.

Meng previously pleaded guilty to to second-degree distribution of child pornography and two counts of third-degree aggravated assault on a police officer, authorities said. He was sentenced to five years in prison for the child pornography possession, and three years for each of the assault charges, according to authorities.

The state had requested that the assault sentences be concurrent to one another but consecutive to the child pornography sentence, for a total sentence of eight years in prison. However, Superior Court Judge Darlene J. Pereksta in Mercer County ordered that all sentences must be served concurrently, according to authorities.

On Wednesday, Dec. 14, detectives with the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ), assisted by the Hopewell Township Police Department and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, executed a search warrant at Meng’s home.

During the search, Meng attempted to take a gun from one of the DCJ detectives, authorities said. Two DCJ detectives attempted to stop him, and suffered minor injuries in the ensuing struggle, authorities said. Additional law enforcement officers joined in the struggle and helped subdue Meng, authorities said.

Investigators said they seized two hard drives, a flash drive, and a desktop computer from the home. A forensic examination of the devices at the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory in Hamilton revealed more than 50,000 files of child pornography, according to authorities. The Mercer County Special Victims Unit also assisted in the operation.

“Meng’s large collection of child pornography highlights the number of children who are cruelly exploited to produce these abhorrent materials and the length to which offenders will go to collect them,” Grewal said. “We will continue to protect children by locking up these offenders who create a market for this exploitation and who perpetuate the victimization of innocent children.”

“Meng’s attack on two of our detectives created a dangerous situation that might have ended in tragedy if the detectives and their law enforcement partners had not responded swiftly and effectively to the threat,” said Director Veronica Allende of the Division of Criminal Justice. “Justice demanded that he face a substantial prison sentence for those assaults as well as his distribution of child pornography.”