Child Porn Charges For Passaic County Man: Feds

PASSAIC, NJ — A Passaic County man was arrested this week for transporting and possessing videos and images of child pornography on an encrypted file storage platform, federal officials said Tuesday.

Edward M. O’Hagan, 49, of Hawthorne, was charged by complaint with one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced Tuesday.

O’Hagan appeared Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge José R. Almonte in Newark federal court and was detained, Sellinger said.

The charges stem from a Jan. 19 incident in which O’Hagan used one of his email accounts to send video files with images of child sexual abuse to himself, including videos depicting children as young as four to six years old, according to documents filed in this case and statements made in court.

O’Hagan also used two email addresses to create accounts on an encrypted file storage platform that was used to upload or create files containing images of the child abuse, both of which were associated with O’Hagan’s IP address, Sellinger said. A search warrant of his apartment was executed Monday.

If found guilty, the transportation of child pornography charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The count of possession of child pornography carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.