Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that a Union County man who possessed over 200,000 videos and explicit images of minors on his computer equipment pleaded guilty today to distributing explicit images of minors on the internet.
Officials say MD Farid Uddin, 44, of Elizabeth, pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree distribution of explicit images of minors before Superior Court Judge Candido Rodriguez Jr. in Union County. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Uddin be sentenced to six years in state prison, including three years of parole ineligibility. He will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will be subject to parole supervision for life.
According to authorities, Uddin also forfeited numerous boxes of counterfeit perfume with an estimated value in excess of $1 million that detectives seized from his garage when they executed a search warrant at the time of his arrest. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 22.
Officials say Uddin was among 79 predators and offenders arrested in “Operation Safety Net,” a nine-month, multi-agency operation conducted in 2017. The operation led to the arrest of ten alleged predators, including eight New Jersey men and two men in California and Indiana who allegedly tried to have minors transported interstate so they could have sex with them.
Police arrested Uddin on Nov. 2, 2017, when detectives of the Division of Criminal Justice executed a search warrant at his residence. Detectives previously downloaded multiple files of explicit images of minors from a shared folder at an IP address traced to Uddin.
During the search, detectives seized a laptop computer and an external hard drive. A forensic exam of Uddin’s computer devices revealed over 200,000 files of suspected explicit images of minors. In Uddin’s garage, detectives seized piles of open boxes containing bottles of counterfeit perfume, labels, and packaging for various designer perfume products.
Attorney General Grewal and Director Allende urged anyone who has information about the distribution of explicit images of minors on the internet – or who suspects improper contact by persons communicating with minors via the internet or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of minors – to contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 888-648-6007.