Former Employee at Picatinny Arsenal Sentenced to Prison for Possession of Child Pornography While on the Arsenal

NEWARK, NJ—A former employee at the United States Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command in Picatinny Arsenal was sentenced today to a year and a day in prison for possessing child pornography while on the arsenal, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Hector Morales, 34, of East Stroudsburg, Pa., previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh to an information charging him with possession of child pornography, admitting he viewed the images on a laptop issued to him by the Department of Defense (DOD). Judge Cavanaugh also imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From August 2000 to June 2009, Morales was a civilian employee at Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County, N.J. Morales admitted that on June 29, 2009, he possessed at least three images of child pornography on his DOD-issued laptop computer and in his work station at the Arsenal. Morales also admitted that he had searched for pornography on his DOD-issued laptop computer and that he used the computer to look at the illegal images.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Cavanaugh sentenced Morales to five years of supervised release. Morales will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI’s Innocent Images Unit, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, for the investigation of this case, and the Picatinny Arsenal Criminal Investigation Unit for providing valuable assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Mendelsohn of the United States Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

Defense counsel: Jay V. Surgent, Esq., Lyndhurst, N.J.
Jeffrey G. Velander, Esq., Stroudsburg, Pa.