Sussex County Man Sentenced For Distributing Child Pornography
Sunday, April 13, 2025, 8:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
NEWARK, NJ.- On Friday, a 67-year-old Franklin Borough, New Jersey, child predator learned he would be spending nearly the next seven years in federal prison for distributing digital images and video files depicting the sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children to an undercover law enforcement investigator.
On Friday, April 11, 2025, Gaetano Lapegna, 67, of Franklin Borough, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Claire C. Cecchi to 80 months in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release for his previously entered guilty plea to a federal child pornography offense.
Lapegna previously appeared before Judge Cecchi in Federal Court in Newark, New Jersey, and pleaded guilty to one count of Distribution of Child Pornography. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Cecchi also ordered Lapegna to pay $50,000 in restitution to his identified victims.
According To U.S. Attorney Alina Habba
According to U.S. Attorney Alina Habba and charging information filed with the District Court, beginning in December of 2022 and lasting through March 2023, Lapegna distributed digital images and video files of child pornography through a publically available peer-to-peer online file-sharing program.
During the course of the investigation, an undercover law enforcement investigator conducted online sessions utilizing the same peer-to-peer program, during which a user shared hundreds of digital images and video files of child pornography from an IP address that was eventually traced to Lapegna’s Franklin Borough address.
Following the identification of Lapegna, investigators executed a court-authorized search at Lapegna’s home. During the search, investigators recovered over 100 items depicting child pornography on Lapegna’s thumb drive. Investigators also found that Lapegna’s computer was running the same version of the peer-to-peer file-sharing program from which investigators downloaded child pornography from Lapegna.
U.S. Attorney Habba commended the investigative work of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations. She also thanked the United States Postal Inspection Service, Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Franklin Borough Police Department for their assistance in this case.