Belmar Sex Offender Gets 28-Year Sentence

The following is a new release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office:

John W. Ludlow, 61, of Belmar, was sentenced Friday in Freehold on charges of Aggravated Sexual Assault and child pornography offenses, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Ludlow pleaded guilty on Oct. 10, 2012, during his trial in front of Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Ronald L. Reisner. Judge Reisner sentenced Ludlow to 20 years in a New Jersey state prison on a first degree count of Aggravated Sexual Assault subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act (NERA), which means he will have to serve 85 percent of the sentence (17 years) before he is eligible for parole. Two other related charges (second degree Sexual Assault and third degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child) were merged with this count during sentencing.

Additionally, Ludlow was sentenced to 8 years for second degree Manufacturing Child Pornography, which Judge Reisner ordered be served consecutively to the other sentences imposed, and 8 years for three counts of second degree Distribution of Child Pornography, which the Judge ordered be served concurrently with each other and the other sentences.

Ludlow was also sentenced to two 12-month sentences for fourth degree Possession of Child Pornography and fourth degree Violation of Community Supervision for Life, which the Court also ordered be served concurrently to each other and with Ludlow’s other sentences, making Ludlow’s total aggregate sentence 28 years in jail. The latter charge stemmed from Ludlow’s 2001 conviction and sentence in Middlesex County for Sexual Assault and Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

This matter began with a referral to the Prosecutor’s Office by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Suffolk County (N.Y.) Police Department, who discovered Ludlow was sharing child pornography on a peer-to-peer network from his home in Belmar. Follow up investigation performed by the Office’s Computer Crimes Unit resulted in Ludlow’s arrest on Aug. 5, 2010, at his Belmar residence.

During his arrest, investigators seized Ludlow’s personal computer, cell phone and computer hardware, which yielded evidence of his criminal activity following a forensic investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Meghan Doyle. Ludlow is represented by George J. Mardinly, Esq. of Rumson