On Friday (2/13/15), Michael R. Allen, 28, of Lakehurst was sentenced to 5 years in New Jersey State Prison. The sentencing was the result of his guilty plea before Judge Francis R. Hodgson Jr., J.S.C., to 2nd degree Distribution Child Pornography in September of 2014. Upon release from incarceration Allen will be subject to Megan’s Law Registration.
The case stems from an investigation which spanned two months during the spring of 2013. It began as a referral from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to New Jersey’s Crimes Against Children Task Force. The High Tech Crime Unit of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office accepted the case and quickly gained the cooperation of the Lakehurst Police Department.
On May 7, 2013, just after sunrise, the investigating agencies, with assistance from the Ocean County Regional SWAT Team, executed a search warrant at Allen’s Maple Street residence in Lakehurst. The search for evidence pertaining to Distribution of Child Pornography on the internet resulted in the recovery of 26 items of digital evidence, Allen’s computer, multiple electronic storage devices and over 5000 graphic images depicting sexual assault on children. The forensic preview of the computer evidence at the residence by the Ocean County High Tech Crime Unit found Allen to be actively trading images of Child Pornography with other persons on the internet.
He was charged at the time with 2 counts of second degree Distribution of Child Pornography. Charges were signed by the OCPO High Tech Crime Unit. Assistant Prosecutor Hillary Bryce approved the charges and prosecuted the case.
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