An Elizabeth man was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for using his home computer to distribute sexually explicit videos and images of children, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Authorities said Thomas J. Leonard, 36, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti to an information charging him with one count of distributing child pornography. Judge Martinotti imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Leonard admitted that he used the online peer-to-peer file sharing program BitTorrent to obtain and distribute images and videos of children engaged in sexual acts.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Martinotti sentenced Leonard to five years of supervised release and fined him $30,000.
Anyone with information regarding possible victims of this activity is urged to contact the FBI in Newark at 973-792-3000.