Monmouth County man sentenced to prison for child pornography

cting Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that a Monmouth County man has been sentenced to state prison for distributing child pornography via the Internet.

Stuart Patterson, 44, of Keansburg, was sentenced yesterday (Feb. 2) to three years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Lourdes I. Santiago in Hudson County. Patterson is barred from using the Internet and from having unsupervised contact with minors for the duration of his sentence. Patterson was also ordered to register under Megan’s Law. The sentence was based on Patterson’s guilty plea to distribution of child pornography, a charge contained in an Oct. 1 state grand jury indictment. Patterson lived in Hudson County at the time of the crime.

In pleading guilty on Dec. 9, Patterson admitted that he sent at least one e-mail containing child pornography from his America Online e-mail address in November 2007.

Patterson was arrested on Oct. 10, 2008, when the New Jersey State Police executed a search warrant that revealed multiple images of child pornography on Patterson’s home computer.

Members of the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit coordinated the investigation. Deputy Attorney General Lee Schaer prosecuted the case and represented the Division of Criminal Justice at the sentencing.