the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Lake Hopatcong NJ, a Morris County, man today admitted possessing and distributing images of child sexual abuse, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
William Mickel, 70, of Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner in Trenton federal court to an indictment charging him with one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
According to the documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From February 2022 through April 2022, Mickel, who was employed by Boy Scout camps in New Jersey, distributed and possessed images and videos of child sexual abuse. Mickel used email accounts to distribute these materials, and stored hundreds of images and videos on electronic devices in his home. Some of the videos in Mickel’s possession depicted children who were surreptitiously recorded using bathrooms in the Boy Scout camps where Mickel worked.
The count of distribution of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000. The count of possession of child pornography carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 3, 2024.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy; the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll; and the Chester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Ryan T. McNamee, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Fatime Meka Cano of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
