Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that the chief of the Audubon Park Volunteer Fire Company in Camden County, was arrested last night on charges that he used a computer at the fire station to share explicit images of minors online using a peer-to-peer file-sharing network.
John Terruso, 44, of Marlton, chief of the Audubon Park Volunteer Fire Company, was arrested last night at the fire station on charges of second-degree distribution of explicit images of minors and third-degree possession of explicit images of minors.
The charges stem from an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice and ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark, assisted by the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office and the Haddon Township Police Department. Investigators executed a search warrant at the fire station at the time of Terruso’s arrest.
It is alleged that Terruso knowingly used Internet file-sharing software to make multiple files of explicit images of minors available for any other user to download from “shared folders” that he controlled on a computer at the fire station on Road C.
The investigation began when a special agent of HSI was monitoring a file-sharing network popular with offenders who seek explicit images of minors. The agent was using advanced technology to search for telltale digital “fingerprints” of known explicit images of minors as well as search terms associated with explicit images of minors. He identified an Internet Protocol address, ultimately traced to a computer at the fire station, which had explicit images of minors available in a shared folder.
He partially downloaded a video from the folder of an adult male raping a prepubescent girl. During the investigation, he identified additional explicit images of minors in a shared folder on a computer at the fire station, including videos of prepubescent boys having sex with other boys and adult males. The investigation revealed that Terruso allegedly was the person using the computer to share explicit images of minors. During the search last night, investigators seized four laptop computers – including a computer personally owned by Terruso – a desktop computer, two external hard drives, a tablet, thumb drives, and cell phones. A preliminary review of the equipment revealed over 1,000 files of suspected explicit images of minors.
Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000, while third-degree crimes carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Terruso was lodged in the Camden County Jail last night with bail set at $150,000, no 10 percent.
Acting Attorney General Hoffman and Director Honig urged anyone with information about distribution of explicit images of minors on the Internet – or about suspected improper contact by unknown persons communicating with children via the Internet or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of children – to please contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 888-648-6007.