Man gets 6 years in prison

A Franklin man was sentenced to more than six years in prison for distributing videos and images of child sexual abuse, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba said Friday, April 11.

Gaetano Lapegna, 67, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Claire Cecchi to a one count of distribution of child pornography.

Cecchi imposed the sentence in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, Lapegna distributed videos and images of child sexual abuse via a publicly available online peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing program from December 2022 to March 2023.

During the investigation, an undercover law enforcement officer conducted online sessions using the P2P program, during which a user shared hundreds of videos and images of child sexual abuse from an IP address traced to Lapegna’s address.

After a search of his home March 30, 2023, law enforcement officers recovered more than 100 items depicting child pornography on Lapegna’s thumb drive.

Officers also found that his computer was running the same version of the P2P program from which they downloaded child pornography from Lapegna.

In addition to the prison term, Cecchi sentenced Lapegna to five years of supervised release and ordered restitution of $50,000.

Habba credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations Newark, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Ricky Patel, with the investigation leading to the sentencing.

She also thanked the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office and Franklin Borough Police Department for their assistance.

Child pornography charge

Devin Ramos-Artigas, 30, of Franklin was charged with second-degree possession of child pornography March 25 after an investigation by the Franklin Borough Police Department in collaboration with the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office.

The arrest came after the execution of a search warrant at Ramos-Artigas’ home.

He was identified as a person of interest in a federal tip line referral involving the possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

The investigation confirmed that he possessed digital media on multiple devices containing images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of minors, police said.

Detectives Zachary LaGrave and Eric Moschberger were assisted by Sgt. Jesse Babcock, Officer Alex Lospinuso, the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office, the New Jersey State Parole Office and the New Jersey State Police K9 Unit.

Ramos-Artigas was taken to the Morris County Correctional Facility pending his appearance in Superior Court in Sussex County.