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