New Jersey man charged with possession of child pornography

TRENTON, N.J. – A New Jersey man was charged May 22 with possession of child pornography following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Patrick T. Deck, 53, of Watchung, N.J., made his initial court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne J. Bongiovanni in Trenton federal court. A search warrant was executed at Deck’s residence in August 2012. The HSI investigation revealed that Deck’s laptop computer contained multiple images of child pornography, which appeared to have been downloaded from the Internet.

If convicted, Deck faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.

The New Jersey State Police and Warren County Prosecutor’s Office assisted in the investigation.