Atlantic County, New Jersey, Man Sentenced To 33 Months In Prison For Possessing Child Pornography, Sending Lewd Image To A Minor

CAMDEN, N.J. - An Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for using online messaging applications to solicit nude photos from minors and transmit a lewd photo to a girl, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Zackary McFerren, 24, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle to an information charging him with one count of possession of child pornography and one count of transferring obscene matter to a minor. Judge Simandle imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.

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

McFerren admitted that between March 2015 and May 2015, he possessed multiple images of child pornography on his home computer. He also admitted that in April 2015, he used the “Kik” messaging application under the screen name “Emily” to communicate with a minor girl in the Philadelphia area. McFerren admitted that during the conversations, he asked the minor girl and her friend to take nude photographs of themselves and their genitalia. The girl then sent McFerren at least 14 such photographs. 

In addition, McFerren admitted that in September 2015, he used Snapchat to send a picture of his penis to a Florida girl who was under the age of 16.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Simandle sentenced McFerren to five years of supervised release and fined him $2,000.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, including special agents of the FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark, and detectives of the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor James P. McClain, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, the Egg Harbor Township Police Department and the Bay County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason M. Richardson of the U.S. Attorney's Office Criminal Division in Camden.

Defense counsel: Edward Crisonino, Esq., Collingswood, New Jersey