Joshua A. Kane, 35, of Wayne, N.J., sentenced to five years in state prison for Distribution of Child Porn

TRENTON – Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy announced that a Passaic County man was sentenced to state prison today for using a file-sharing network to share child pornography over the Internet. He was among 27 defendants arrested in 2012 as a result of “Operation Watchdog,” a multi-agency investigation led by the New Jersey State Police and the Division of Criminal Justice that targeted offenders who distributed known images and videos of child pornography on the Internet.

Joshua A. Kane, 35, of Wayne, N.J., was sentenced to five years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Scott Bennion in Passaic County. He pleaded guilty on Feb. 8 to a charge of second-degree distribution of child pornography. The charge was contained in a 2013 state grand jury indictment obtained by the Division of Criminal Justice. Kane also was sentenced today to five years in prison on a separate charge of distribution of child pornography filed by the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office. The two sentences will run concurrently. Kane will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law.

Deputy Attorney Anthony Torntore took the guilty plea and handled the sentencing related to Operation Watchdog for the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer Crimes Bureau.

In pleading guilty, Kane admitted that prior to his arrest on April 9, 2012, he knowingly used Internet file-sharing software to make one or more files containing child pornography readily available for any other user to download from a designated “shared folder” on his computer. A detective with the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit downloaded three videos of child pornography involving prepubescent girls from a shared folder on Kane’s computer. A search warrant executed at Kane’s residence by the State Police and other members of the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force revealed evidence of numerous files of child pornography on a personal computer in his bedroom. A full forensic examination of Kane’s computer at the Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory revealed that he had downloaded 41 videos of child pornography onto his computer, and he had partially downloaded more than 800 additional files of child pornography which also were available for others to download from his computer via a file-sharing network.

“Anyone who views and re-distributes child pornography online becomes a willing participant in the brutal sexual abuse and exploitation of children, directly motivating further crimes against innocent victims,” said Acting Attorney General Lougy. “We must imprison offenders like Kane to protect children and deliver a strong deterrent message about the seriousness of these crimes.”

“Offenders like Kane believe they can hide their crimes against children behind the anonymity of the Internet,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “But through investigations like Operation Watchdog, we’re letting these offenders know that we can infiltrate their file-sharing activity online and trace the child pornography right to their homes, where we will arrest them.”

“Kane maintained and shared an online library that contained more than 800 files depicting the sexual abuse and exploitation of children,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “Let Operation Watchdog be a wake-up call to the cowards who think they are safe hiding behind a computer screen while they peddle smut, because they are not, and we’re coming for them.”

Kane was charged in Operation Watchdog, a multi-agency investigation in which one woman and 26 men were arrested in March and April of 2012 on charges of distribution and possession of child pornography. The New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigation Unit coordinated the investigation, which also involved the Division of Criminal Justice and 19 other law enforcement agencies. The State Police Technical Emergency and Mission Specialists (TEAMS) Unit assisted in executing search warrants.

Detectives linked all of the defendants to alleged use of the Internet to download and distribute images of child pornography. Peer to Peer, or P2P, file sharing networks play a major role in the distribution of child pornography. There is a large library of images and videos known to law enforcement, and these electronic files can be traced in various ways on the Internet. Detectives involved in Operation Watchdog tracked transferred files to their origin and destination locations.

All of the New Jersey agencies that partnered in Operation Watchdog are members of the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. Additionally, agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI assisted with the investigation and execution of warrants. Acting Attorney General Lougy also thanked the Wayne Police Department and the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office for their valuable assistance.

Acting Attorney General Lougy and Director Honig urged anyone who has information about the distribution of child pornography on the Internet or who suspects improper contact by unknown persons communicating with children via the Internet or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of children to contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 888-648-6007.