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Edward Ford, 48, may be eligible for parole in as little as 16 months, under a plea bargain.
However, he's "going to have a shadow called a parole officer supervising everything he does for at least 15 years,” Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Brian Sinclair said.
Ford's mother said her mobility is limited and that her son “has been a great help to me during the last year.”
“He can go out in the world and contribute," she told Superior Court Judge Margaret M. Foti. "Everyone would benefit.”
Ford, who remained tearful through most of the sentencing, apologized.
“I’m sorry, I am -- I realize what I did was very wrong,” he said, his voice breaking. “It was wrong for me to be to support these crimes by doing looking and child pornography.
“I want to apologize for putting my mother in jeopardy by not being able to be there for her.”
The judge said Ford apologized to the wrong people.
“While I have tremendous sympathy for Mrs. Ford, he didn’t apologize to the children in the pictures -- and I am here to speak for them,” said Foti, a former family court judge.
Sinclair said Ford told police he'd been watching and sharing up to 2,700 images of children who were naked or being molested, and 275 videos of children in sexual activity.
Many of the victims are from Europe and Asia, the prosecutor said.
"The only way to protect them is to prosecute people like Ford who are the consumers,” he said.
Foti agreed that the images are "disgusting” and said she couldn't find any evidence of Ford's mother's claim that he is “law-abiding and a good soul.”
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