Plainsboro Township Man Sentenced For Possessing Child Pornography
Tuesday, May 27, 2025, 7:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
PLAINSBORO, NJ.- A 45-year-old Plainsboro Township, New Jersey, man learned he would be spending over two decades in New Jersey State Prison after being sentenced on May 15, 2025, for possessing nearly two million digital images and video files depicting the sexual exploitation and abuse of children.
On Thursday, May 15, 2025, Derek McDonough, 45, of Plainsboro Township, appeared in Middlesex County Superior Court and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Thomas Abode to 25 years in State Prison for his conviction of first-degree Possession of Child Pornography; and fourth-degree Tampering with Evidence.
In handing down the sentence, Judge Abode ordered that McDonough serve 12 years of his custodial term before becoming eligible for parole. Upon release from custody, McDonough will be subject to parole supervision for life and register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law restraints.
   The conviction and sentence stem from an investigation that began in 2022 when the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding McDonough’s internet child pornography activities. On September 1, 2022, Detectives of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Plainsboro Township Police Department executed a court-authorized search warrant at McDonough’s residence.
Detectives Uncover Nearly 2 Million Items Of Child Porn
During the search, Detectives located and seized several electronic devices, including a cellular phone, an external laptop computer, and an external hard drive that McDonough had hidden behind a washer and dryer in his home. During a subsequent forensic examination of the devices, Detectives uncovered nearly two million digital images and video files depicting the sexual exploitation and abuse of prepubescent and pubescent children.
Between February 14, 2024, and February 21, 2024, evidence was presented at trial by Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Tina Swenor and Assistant Prosecutor Rowa Altattan, which resulted in the February 21, 2024, conviction on the charges of first-degree Possession of Child Pornography and Tampering with Evidence.
