Waretown Man Sentenced On Child Pornography Charges: Prosecutor

WARETOWN, NJ — A Waretown man has been sentenced to four years in New Jersey State Prison for possessing child pornography, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said Friday.

Michael Delia, 42, of Waretown, pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child by possessing child pornography on Sept. 23, 2020.

An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit in January 2019 revealed that an IP Address belonging to Delia was being used to download child pornography from the internet through a peer to peer file sharing application, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

On March 5, 2019, detectives from multiple agencies executed a search warrant at Delia’s home in Waretown. Billhimer said detectives seized a laptop computer, cell phone and other electronic equipment belonging to Delia.

A forensic examination of the laptop computer revealed that it contained more than 1,000 but less than 10,000 images of child pornography, he said. Delia was arrested without incident and taken to the Ocean County Jail.

Delia’s sentence will be served at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel, New Jersey. Delia will be subject to parole supervision for life and required to register as a Megan’s Law Offender.

Billhimer commends the Assistant Prosecutor Shanon Chant-Berry who handled the case on behalf of the state, as well as the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations and Ocean Township Police Department, for their assistance in this investigation leading to Delia’s apprehension and his state prison sentence.

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