Manchester Man Gets 5-Year Sentence In For Sharing Child Porn: AG

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Manchester Township man has been sentenced to five years in prison for sharing images of children engaged in sexual activities over the internet, state Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced.

Bruce W. Davis, 56, of the Whiting section of the township, was additionally sentenced to 2½ years of parole ineligibility by Superior Court Judge Linda G. Baxter sitting in Ocean County, Porrino's office said in a news release. He will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will be subject to parole supervision for life.

Davis pleaded guilty on June 14 to second-degree distribution of child pornography. He was arrested in 2016 with 39 other offenders in “Operation Statewide,” a child pornography sweep by the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which includes the New Jersey State Police, Division of Criminal Justice, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, and numerous state, county and local law enforcement agencies, Porrino's office said.

In pleading guilty, Davis admitted that he knowingly used file-sharing software to make multiple files of child pornography readily available for any other user to download from a “shared folder” on his computer. While monitoring a peer-to-peer file-sharing network popular with sex offenders, a detective of the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit downloaded nearly 100 suspected videos and images of child pornography from shared folders at two computer IP addresses that were traced to Davis, authorities said.

When Davis was arrested on Aug. 15, 2016, he was actively using a laptop to download child pornography from the file-sharing network when detectives arrived, authorities said. A forensic exam of the laptop revealed more than 100 files of child pornography, including more than 25 files that were in a shared folder available for other network users to download.

“Those who promote the cruel exploitation of children by viewing and sharing child pornography online are going to find themselves viewing and sharing the inside of a prison cell,” Porrino said. "We’ll continue to crack down on these offenders and the abhorrent materials they traffic through sweeps like Operation Statewide.”

“Bruce Davis was a purveyor of more than a hundred videos of abuse, cruelty, and sexual assault of innocent child victims,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “I commend our detectives from the Digital Technology Investigations Unit for their diligent efforts during this investigation, which put Davis behind bars.”

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

Bruce Davis photo provided by New Jersey Attorney General's Office