Burlington, New Jersey Man Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 15, 2011 |
CAMDEN, NJ—Patrick McGuigan, of Burlington, N.J., was sentenced today to 108 months in prison for collecting images, for his personal gratification, of children being violently sexually abused, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
McGuigan previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of possession of child pornography. He entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Joseph E. Irenas, who also imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
McGuigan, 62, admitted to having over 600 images of child pornography on a computer located in his residence in June 2010. McGuigan acknowledged that he possessed images which depicted minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct with other minors and adults, including material portraying sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.
The criminal images were brought to the attention of law enforcement by a family member of McGuigan’s who performed maintenance on his computer.
As part of his guilty plea, McGuigan agreed to forfeit computers and computer accessories which he used to commit the offense.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Irenas sentenced McGuigan to a lifetime of supervised release. In sentencing the defendant, Judge Irenas took into account his pattern of abuse or exploitation of children. McGuigan is also required to register as a sex offender.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI’s Cyber Crimes Squad assigned to Innocent Images, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea. He also thanked the Burlington City Police Department, the Evesham Police Department, and the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office for their work on the case.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline M. Carle of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.
Defense counsel: Lori Koch Esq., Camden