Island Heights man arrested for possession of child porn

An Island Heights man is in some trouble after being placed in handcuffs on Wednesday on charges alleging that he received and was in possession of child sexual abuse images and videos downloaded from the internet, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Joseph Punderson, 31, faces between five and twenty years in prison if convicted of the charge of knowingly receiving child pornography along with a fine of nearly $250,00 or twice the gross pecuniary gain or loss, whichever is greater.

He could face up to ten years in prison if convicted of knowingly possession child porn along with a similar fine.

Attorney Carpenito said that Punderson's activity was uncovered by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and other agencies including law enforcement who found email and social media accounts were used by the Ocean County resident from May  of 2019 until November of 2019.

Punderson remained jailed without bail.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Atlantic City, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jason Molina in Newark, the Ocean County Prosecutors Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, and the Island Heights Police Department, under the direction of Acting Chief Paul Rutledge, with the investigation leading to today’s arrest.

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

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