Former High School Teacher Sentenced to 48 Months in Federal Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

CAMDEN - A former southern New Jersey high school teacher was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison today for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler ordered Michael P. McColgan, 35, of Gloucester Township, to surrender to the federal Bureau of Prisons on a date shortly after June 15, as determined by the Bureau of Prisons, to begin serving his prison sentence. Judge Kugler also barred the defendant from employment and volunteer activities that may put him in contact with minor children of either sex and ordered the defendant to comply with sex offender registration laws.

At his plea hearing on Feb. 3, 2006, McColgan pleaded guilty to a one-count Information charging that during April 2005 he possessed more than 3 images of child pornography on his computer hard drive. According to the plea agreement, McColgan possessed more than 150 files containing images depicting sexual exploitation of prepubescent minors. McColgan admitted the production of the images, which he obtained through the Internet, involved the use of actual children in sexually explicit conduct as opposed to computer generated images.

McColgan, formerly a teacher at St. Joseph High School in Hammonton, was originally charged in a criminal complaint with possession of child pornography as a result of an investigation that commenced when the defendant transferred images of a prepubescent female engaged in explicit sexual conduct with an adult male to an undercover FBI agent in Buffalo, N.Y., via the Internet. The investigation was eventually transferred to Special Agents of the FBI's Cherry Hill Resident Agency for further investigation.

In determining the actual sentence, Judge Kugler consulted the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Brian W. Lynch, Philadelphia Division, with investigation of the case.

The Government is represented by Assistant United States Attorney Jacqueline Carle of the U.S. Attorney's Office Criminal Division in Camden.

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Defense Attorney: Robert N. Agre, Esq. Haddonfield