New Jersey Man Sentenced to Eight-Year Prison Term for Possession of Child Pornography

WASHINGTON—Gregory Loreng, 45, of Fanwood, New Jersey, has been sentenced to an eight-year prison term on charges of possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr., Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Loreng pled guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography in November 2012 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was sentenced on May 1, 2013, by the Honorable John D. Bates. Upon completion of his prison term, Loreng will be placed on 10 years of supervised release. He also must register as a sex offender for 15 years following his release.

According to the government’s evidence, on April 23, 2012, Loreng contacted a man who he believed to be the father of an under-aged girl, using a social networking site frequented by individuals who have a sexual interest in children. That man turned out to be an undercover officer with the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. Over the next few days, Loreng engaged in online conversations with the undercover officer. During this period, Loreng sent the officer multiple images of child pornography, including videos of adult men engaged in sexual acts with children.

Upon execution of a search warrant on the defendant’s residence in New Jersey, members of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force recovered devices containing numerous additional videos and images of child pornography.

This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director Parlave and Chief Lanier praised the work of the MPD detectives and special agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. They also commended the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari Redbord, who prosecuted the case.