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Richard Knight, 40, of New Egypt, pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography on Tuesday, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.
The State will recommend a term of five years in New Jersey
State Prison on both charges, served concurrently, with a two year period of parole ineligibility.
This investigation, which began in December 2020, was the result of numerous referrals from the New Jersey State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
The Task Force detected that a user of the program Google Meets was allegedly uploading images of child pornography to the internet, Billhimer said.
An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit identified a residence in New Egypt as the source of the uploaded images of child pornography, the prosecutor said.
On June 9, detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s
Office High Tech Crime Unit, United States Homeland Security Investigations, and Plumsted Township Police
Department made a warranted search of Knight’s residence in New Egypt. Detectives seized two cell phones from the residence.
Further investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit revealed that Knight’s cell phone contained more than 1,000 images of child pornography, the prosecutor said.
The investigation also revealed that Knight distributed child
pornography using Google Meets and other social media platforms.
Knight was subsequently arrested at his place of employment in Browns Mills on June 9; he has been held in the Ocean County Jail since that date.
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