Today, a Salem County man admitted possessing explicit images of minors, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Honig, Rickie Wayne Patton, 40, of Pennsville, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with possession of explicit images of minors.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On February 10, 2020, a Task Force Officer with the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force identified an IP Address that was sharing suspected explicit images of minors over a peer-to-peer file-sharing network.
From February 10, 2020, to March 15, 2020, the officer downloaded several video files containing explicit images of minors from a computer at the same IP Address.
The IP Address was then traced to Patton’s residence, where the FBI executed a search warrant on May 19, 2020.
The FBI found laptop computers and digital storage media belonging to Patton.
A forensic examination later confirmed those devices contained explicit images of minors.