Crime & Safety

Child Porn Distribution Conviction Gets Local Man Prison Time

The man allegedly sent images over the phone

From the U.S. Attorney General's office:

A Monmouth County man was sentenced today to 41 months in prison for using his Blackberry smartphone to distribute images of child sexual abuse, including to a stranger in Nevada, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.  

John Nutt, 55, of Asbury Park, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano in Trenton federal court to charges one count of distribution of child pornography. Judge Pisano imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.

Find out what's happening in Rumson-Fair Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Nutt admitted he sent child pornography to a stranger in Nevada using his Blackberry smartphone to distribute images of child sexual abuse, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Find out what's happening in Rumson-Fair Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

• On April 10, 2011, a woman in Nevada received an image of child pornography on her cellular telephone via picture message from a phone number not known to her. When she reported this event to Nevada law enforcement, law enforcement officers determined that the phone number belonged to Nutt, and that Nutt lived in Asbury Park.

• On May 19, 2011, officers from the Asbury Park Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office executed a search warrant at Nutt’s residence and seized his Blackberry smartphone, which federal investigators later determined had been used to distribute and receive child pornography.

• The count of distributing child pornography to which Nutt pleaded guilty is punishable by a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years in prison and a maximum potential penalty of 20 years, and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for April 1.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, in New Jersey under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Andrew M. McLees; the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni; the Asbury Park Police Department, under the direction of Chief Mark Kinmon; and the Mineral County, Nev., Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff Michael Dillard, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Clabby of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.