Middletown Man Will Serve 14 Years In Prison For Promoting Child Sex Abuse Material Online

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — A Middletown man was sentenced Tuesday to 14 years in prison and 15 years of supervised release for promoting child sexual abuse material on the dark web.

Declan Golden, 39, of Middletown, accessed and engaged with a website on the Tor network known to encourage its users to post and trade child sexual abuse material, said federal prosecutors.

While on this website, Golden created numerous posts related to voyeurism and the sexual exploitation of children while encouraging other users to share images with him. Golden also posted links for users to access images of children engaging in sexually explicit conduct and statements about using a spycam on girls in the shower and on the toilet.

A search of his devices revealed many videos and image files of child sexual abuse material, including depictions of prepubescent children engaged in sexual acts. In an interview with law enforcement, Golden admitted to viewing child sexual abuse material beginning in 2014.

Prosecutors said he did these online activities from Oct. 18, 2020 through Jan. 20, 2023.

Golden pleaded guilty in May 2025 to the charge of promoting material containing child pornography involving a prepubescent minor. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.