Somerville, New Jersey Man Sentenced to 78 Months in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

CAMDEN, NJ—A Somerville, New Jersey man was sentenced today to 78 months in prison for possession of child pornography, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Benjamin I. Katz, 26, pleaded guilty in September 2009 to a one-count Indictment before United Stated District Judge Robert B. Kugler, who also imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.

At his plea hearing, Katz admitted that he downloaded approximately 1383 images containing child pornography from the Internet, and that the images portrayed individuals less than 18 years of age engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The images also portrayed numerous minors under the age of 12.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Kugler sentenced Katz to five years of supervised release.

In determining a sentence, Judge Kugler consulted the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant’s criminal history, if any, and other factors. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Fishman credited Special Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Newark Innocent Images Unit, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward, with the investigation leading to today’s sentence.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lakshmi Srinivasan Herman of the Criminal Division in Newark.