Wanaque Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography

NEWARK—A Wanaque man pleaded guilty today to a one-count Information that charges him with possessing child pornography on his home computer, Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr., announced.

William C. Murphy, 58, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden to one count of possession of child pornography. Judge Hayden continued the defendant’s release on a $100,000 unsecured bond, with travel restricted to New Jersey, pending sentencing with is scheduled for Jan. 11.

Murphy was originally arrested on Mar. 27, 2009, by Special Agents with the FBI’s Newark Innocent Images Unit on a federal criminal Complaint. Murphy was employed as a school bus driver from approximately 1999 until the time of his arrest.

On March 25, 2009, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home and seized two of his computers. One of those computers contained images of child pornography. At his plea hearing, Murphy admitted that he downloaded approximately 241 images and approximately 150 videos containing child pornography from the Internet. The images were of persons under 18 years of age engaged in sexually explicit conduct, Murphy admitted.

The charge of possession of child pornography carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a statutory fine of up to $250,000.

In determining an actual sentence, Judge Hayden will consult 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.

Marra credited Special Agents with the FBI’s Newark Innocent Images Unit, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lakshmi Srinivasan Herman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

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