February 1, 10

NEWS / Jersey City Man Indicted for Allegedly Distributing Child Pornography over the Internet

TRENTON – Acting Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that a Jersey City man was indicted today on charges that he distributed child pornography on the Internet.

The Division of Criminal Justice Major Crimes Bureau obtained a three-count state grand jury indictment charging Nicholas Castrovinci, 29, of Jersey City, with second-degree distribution of child pornography, second-degree offering child pornography and fourth-degree possession of child pornography.

The indictment alleges that on June 30, 2009, Castrovinci knowingly used Internet file sharing software to make multiple files containing child pornography readily available for any other user to download from a designated “shared folder” on his computer. A detective for the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigation Unit was conducting an undercover investigation into the possession and distribution of child pornography on the Internet via peer-to-peer software, when he allegedly downloaded two video files that contained child pornography from the shared folder on Castrovinci’s computer.

Castrovinci was arrested on July 31, 2009. A search warrant executed by the New Jersey State Police on that date revealed numerous videos containing child pornography on his computer.

At the time of his arrest, Castrovinci was on probation as a result of a guilty plea to fourth-degree criminal sexual contact obtained by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office. He is being held in the Hudson County Jail on the violation of probation and in lieu of $150,000 bail.

Deputy Attorney General Lee Schaer presented the case to the state grand jury.

Second-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison and a $150,000 fine, while fourth-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine. The indictment is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

http://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases10/pr20100128b.html