New Jersey police arrested 40 people who allegedly possessed child pornography on their personal computers.

The investigation, dubbed “Operation Statewide,” focused on suspects accused of using the Internet to download and, in many cases, upload sexual images of minors. The investigation lasted approximately six months, with detectives tracing the suspects’ online activity and then tracking the illicit sexual images to computers located throughout New Jersey, including Bergen County, Passaic County, Morris County, and Essex County.

During subsequent searches of the suspects’ homes, police allegedly seized computers containing thousands of illegal photographs of minors. According to law enforcement, one of the seized computers contained more than 76,000 such illegal images.

The 40 suspects arrested by police face criminal charges for possession of child pornography. Additionally, nearly all of the suspects have also been charged with distribution of child pornography.

Shortly after news of the arrests broke, New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes said that the suspects had promoted activity that often leads to other sex crimes like child molestation and sexual assault.

If any of the suspects are ultimately convicted of possessing child pornography, they could potentially be sentenced to 3-5 years in NJ State Prison. And if any of the suspects are convicted of distributing child pornography, they could face a sentence of 5-10 years in New Jersey State Prison.

To learn more, read the NorthJersey.com article, “Four Bergen, Passaic Men among 40 Charged in Child Porn Probe.”