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Essex County Man Sentenced for Distributing Explicit Videos, Images of Minors

Belleville

Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that an Essex County man was sentenced to state prison today for distributing explicit videos and images of minors using a file-sharing network.

He was arrested in “Operation Safety Net,” a multi-agency child protection operation led by the New Jersey Regional Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

According to officials Luis Felipe Pacheco-Loja, 33, of Belleville, was arrested on September 6, 2017, when detectives of the Division of Criminal Justice, assisted by additional members of the ICAC Task Force, executed a search warrant at his residence.

Detectives previously had downloaded the explicit materials from a shared folder at an IP address traced to Pacheco-Loja.

During the search, detectives seized a computer belonging to Pacheco-Loja. A forensic examination of the computer revealed more than 25 files of such material in a shared folder.

According to officials, Pacheco-Loja was sentenced to six years in state prison, including five years of parole ineligibility.

He was found guilty in March by an Essex County jury of distributing 25 or more files of explicit images of minors, storing or maintaining more than 25 files of explicit images of minors using a file-sharing program, and possession of explicit images of minors.

Pacheco-Loja must register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will be subject to parole supervision for life.

“Offenders like Pacheco-Loja who share child sexual abuse materials online perpetuate the victimization of the children who are brutally assaulted to produce these vile materials and further motivate those who commit these horrific assaults,” said Attorney General Grewal. “We will continue to work tirelessly to protect children and bring these offenders to justice. I commend our attorneys and trial team, as well as all of the investigators who helped secure this verdict.”

Pacheco-Loja was among 79 offenders arrested in “Operation Safety Net,” a multi-agency child protection operation that concluded in November 2017.

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