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Press Release

West Milford Township, New Jersey, Man Sentenced To Five Years In Prison For Receiving Sexually Explicit Images Of Children

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. – A Passaic County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 60 months in prison for receiving sexually explicit images of children from his computer, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. 

Thomas Bachalis, 32, of West Milford Township, New Jersey, pleaded guilty on March 14, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Ester Salas to an information charging him with receipt of child pornography. Judge Salas imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court. 

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

Bachalis previously admitted that in August 2013 he was a member of a publicly available peer-to-peer file sharing network on the internet, which he used to receive images of child sexual abuse.  

In addition to the prison term, Judge Salas sentenced Bachalis to five years of supervised release. 

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark; the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik; and the West Milford Police Department, under the direction of Chief Timothy Storbeck, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. 

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Courtney A. Howard of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

Updated September 2, 2016

Topic
Project Safe Childhood
Press Release Number: 16-176