Red Bank man pleads guilty to receiving child porn

TRENTON, N.J. – A Monmouth County, New Jersey, man today admitted downloading sexually explicit videos and images of children to his home computer, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

James Paroline, 27, of Red Bank, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson in Trenton federal court to Count One of an indictment charging him with receiving child pornography.

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

Paroline was employed in Monmouth County as an assistant at a nursery school and as a summer camp counselor at a private school. Between Feb. 26, 2015, and March 2, 2015, Paroline accessed a website known as “PlayPen,” an underground online bulletin board and website dedicated to the advertisement and distribution of child pornography. During that period, Paroline logged into PlayPen under the username “jimbobtropolis,” which he had registered with PlayPen using his personal email address, and downloaded multiple videos and images depicting the sexual abuse of children from the website.

The count to which Paroline pleaded guilty carries a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison, a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for June 1, 2017.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked officers of the Red Bank Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Darren McConnell; officers of the Middletown Police Department, under the direction of Chief Craig Weber; and detectives of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni; for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Brendan Day of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.