Ocean County man admits to possessing massive child pornography cache

An Ocean County man is facing years in prison after pleading guilty this week to child pornography charges, state authorities announced. 

Anthony White. (Image: New Jersey Office of Attorney General)

Anthony White. (Image: New Jersey Office of Attorney General)

An Ocean County man is facing years in prison after pleading guilty this week to child pornography charges, state authorities announced.

Anthony White, 31, of Lakewood admitted to second-degree charges of distributing child pornography and attempting to manufacture child pornography, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said.

Prosecutors say a New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit detective monitoring a peer-to-peer file-sharing network popular with sex offenders downloaded 38 videos and images of child pornography from a folder shared by an IP address later traced to White.

White admitted to sharing the files and trying to reproduce images of child pornography that he had previously downloaded, according to prosecutors.

  • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

A July 2016 search warrant and arrest led to a discovery of more than 36,000 videos and images of child pornography, which authorities say is “one of the largest ever seized by law enforcement in New Jersey.”

Under the plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend that White be sentenced to six years in state prison, including three years of parole ineligibility, along with lifelong sex offender supervision under Megan’s Law.

“Each time we arrest an offender like White with thousands upon thousands of files of child pornography, it highlights the alarming scope of this problem and the number of children who are cruelly victimized and re-victimized in the creation and distribution of these abhorrent materials,” said Grewal. “This plea reflects our resolve to use New Jersey’s tough child pornography laws to seek lengthy prison terms for those who participate in these crimes.”

Anyone with information about the distribution of child pornography on the internet or child exploitation should contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 888-648-6007.

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal