A man who used to operate a faith-based boot-camp style program for youths
has pleaded guilty to charges involving child porn, court officials said.
The 29-year-old New Jersey man pleaded guilty in federal court in Trenton
to possessing and transporting
child pornography over the Internet in June of 2009.
At the time, he was serving as the head of a private military-style camp,
prosecutors said. The New Jersey man's criminal defense attorney said
the accusations had nothing to do with the camp or the kids who attended it.
The York Daily Record reports that the camp is described on its Web site
as a faith-based military camp for kids aged 11 to 17.
The Toms River man who ran the camp faces a mandatory minimum sentence
of five years, with a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. He could
also be fined up to $250,000.
He had originally faced three counts of child porn possession and a pair
of counts of transporting the illegal images.
He and the camp are defendants in a lawsuit brought by Connecticut parents
who say their son was bullied by the camp's staff when he attended
three years ago.
They allege that staff members physically assaulted the boy, were verbally
abusive, made him listen to graphic sexual stories and made him consume
his own vomit. Their lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania.
The parents claim their son has since suffered from suicidal thoughts,
depression, nightmares, post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric
problems since the alleged incidents at the camp.
Resource: York Daily Record:
"N.J. man, ex-director of county youth camp, pleads guilty to child
porn charges": January 13, 2011