Crime & Safety
Union County Man Gets 8 Years For Sharing Child Porn
The Elizabeth man reportedly used a file-sharing program to share images and videos of children engaged in sexual acts over the internet.
ELIZABETH, NJ — A Union County man was sentenced to 97 months in prison for using his home computer to share sexually explicit videos and images of children, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Thomas J. Leonard, 36, of Elizabeth previously pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography. U.S. District Judge Brian R. imposed the sentence Tuesday in Trenton federal court.
Leonard admitted that he used the online peer-to-peer file sharing program BitTorrent to get and share images and videos of children engaged in sexual acts, according to documents filed in this case and statements made in court.
Find out what's happening in Westfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
In addition to the prison term, Leonard was sentenced to five years of supervised release and fined $30,000.
Anyone with information regarding possible victims of this activity is urged to contact the FBI in Newark at 973-792-3000.
Find out what's happening in Westfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
(Image via Shutterstock)
Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.
Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
