A Brick Township man is facing up to 40-years in prison for distribution and possession of child porn images and videos.

U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced Monday that Andrew Ramey, 34, of Brick, is charged by criminal complaint with one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

He was arrested Friday by special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, appeared by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lois H. Goodman and was detained without bail.

Carpenito said that from March 13, 2020, through June 8, 2020, Ramey distributed material containing images of child sexual abuse and child pornography, via the BitTorrent Network, a publicly available online peer-to-peer file-sharing network of linked computers.

A law enforcement investigation led officers to Ramey's address after noticing that video files containing child pornography were being downloaded from a device or devices assigned to an IP address at Ramey’s residence.

Investigators then searched Ramey’s residence and found multiple images and videos containing images of child sexual abuse, as well as BitTorrent software, on Ramey's mobile phone.

Ramey was convicted in 2018 by federal prosecutors of one count of possession of child pornography.

The distribution charge against him this time is punishable by a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison and a statutory maximum penalty of 40 years in prison, along with a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross pecuniary gain or loss caused by the offense, whichever is greater.

The possession charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, along with a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross pecuniary gain or loss, whichever is greater.

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

Vin
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