NEWARK, NJ – A registered sex offender employed at a law office in Paterson, N.J., was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Newark for allegedly possessing and distributing images of child sex abuse over the Internet, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Kevin Rease, 33, of Hackettstown, N.J., was charged by complaint in April 2013 with one count of distributing images of child sex abuse over the Internet and has been held in federal custody since that time. Today’s indictment charges two counts of distribution and one count of possession of the images. Rease will be arraigned on the indictment on a date to be determined.
According to the indictment returned today and other documents filed in this case:
On March 12, 2013, an undercover FBI agent downloaded images depicting child sexual abuse from an individual using an assumed name on a public Internet-based peer-to-peer file sharing network. The investigation revealed that the individual was logged on to the network using an Internet Protocol, or “IP,” address belonging to the law office where he worked.
The FBI executed a search warrant in April 2013 at the Paterson law office, seizing digital images depicting child sexual abuse, including material involving prepubescent minors. Rease’s work computer was logged onto the peer-to-peer network at the time, under the same assumed name which had offered illegal images for download on March 12.
As a previously convicted sex offender, Rease faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 40 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine per count if convicted of the distribution offenses. He also faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine if convicted of the possession count.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, Newark Division’s Child Exploitation Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, with the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Alfonzo Walsman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark.
The charge and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Source: US DOJ, Press Release, May 17, 2013