Belleville Man Shared Child Sex Videos; Gets 6 Years In Jail: OAG

BELLEVILLE, NJ — A Belleville man was sentenced to six years in state prison on Tuesday after he distributed videos and images of children being sexually abused – including child rape videos – using a file-sharing network, prosecutors said.

Luis Felipe Pacheco-Loja, 33, of Belleville, was arrested as part of “Operation Safety Net,” a multi-agency child protection operation led by the New Jersey Regional Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

According to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Pacheco-Loja was sentenced to six years in state prison, including five years of parole ineligibility. He was found guilty in March by an Essex County jury of distributing 25 or more files of child pornography (2nd degree), storing or maintaining more than 25 files of child pornography using a file-sharing program (2nd degree), and possession of child pornography (3rd degree).

Pacheco-Loja must register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will be subject to parole supervision for life, prosecutors said.

According to state prosecutors, Pacheco-Loja was among 79 offenders arrested in Operation Safety Net, a multi-agency child protection operation that concluded in November 2017. The operation was conducted by the New Jersey Regional ICAC Task Force, which is led by the New Jersey State Police and includes the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, all 21 county prosecutors’ offices, and several other state, county and local law enforcement agencies.

Prosecutors said:

“Pacheco-Loja was arrested on Sept. 6, 2017, when detectives of the Division of Criminal Justice, assisted by additional members of the ICAC Task Force, executed a search warrant at his residence. Detectives previously had downloaded child sexual abuse materials, including a child rape video, from a shared folder at an IP address traced to Pacheco-Loja. During the search, detectives seized a computer belonging to Pacheco-Loja. A forensic examination of the computer revealed more than 25 files of such child sexual abuse material in a shared folder.”

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