Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced that the former chief of the Audubon Park Volunteer Fire Company in Camden County pleaded guilty today to using a computer at the fire station to share Explicit Images of Minors online using a peer-to-peer file-sharing network.
John Terruso, 46, of Marlton, N.J., former chief of the Audubon Park Volunteer Fire Company, pleaded guilty today to charges of second-degree distribution of Explicit Images of Minors and third-degree possession of 100 or more files of Explicit Images of Minors before Superior Court Judge John T. Kelley in Camden.
Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Terruso 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. He also will be permanently barred from public office and employment.
Sentencing for Terruso is scheduled for Aug. 25.
In pleading guilty, Terruso admitted that he 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.
Terruso was arrested on June 10, 2015 at the fire station, where investigators executed a search warrant and discovered more than 1,000 files of suspected Explicit Images of Minors on computer equipment used by Terruso.
The investigation began when a special agent of HSI was monitoring a file-sharing network and 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, including videos of prepubescent girls engaging in sexual acts with adult males, as well as videos of prepubescent boys having sex with other boys and adult males.
Further investigation revealed Terruso was the person using the computers to share Explicit Images of Minors.
Attorney General Porrino 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.