A Jersey City man has received a 15-year state prison sentence for sexually assaulting a child and distributing child pornography, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Jose Roman, 75, of Jersey City, was sentenced to 15 years in state prison without possibility of parole by Hudson County Superior Court Judge Mitzy Galis-Mendendez in, Grewal said in a statement.
Roman pleaded guilty on April 16th to charges of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, second-degree impairing or debauching the morals of a child, and second-degree distributing child pornography (storing or maintaining child pornography using a file-sharing program).
He will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will be subject to parole supervision for life.
Roman was charged in an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice, New Jersey State Police, Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, and Jersey City Police Department.
“As Roman illustrates, there is a real risk that offenders who collect videos of young children being sexually abused will also sexually assault children themselves,†Grewal stated.
“That is why we thoroughly investigate any offender arrested for child pornography to determine if there is evidence of such hands-on conduct. This lengthy prison sentence removes Roman from the community so that he can no longer harm children.â€
Roman was arrested in 2015 by the Division of Criminal Justice, New Jersey State Police, and Jersey City Police Department. The investigation began when a detective with the Division of Criminal Justice Cyber Crimes Unit identified a computer address that was sharing numerous files of child pornography on a file sharing network.
A detective with the State Police Digital Technology Investigation Unit (DTIU) subsequently downloaded 12 files of child pornography from a shared folder at that computer address. The computer address was traced to the residence where Roman was living in Jersey City.
Roman was arrested on Nov. 17, 2015, when the investigating agencies executed a search warrant at his residence. When detectives entered the residence, Roman was watching a video of child pornography on his computer.
Detectives seized the computer, as well as four boxes of DVDs and CDs, which were later determined to include more than 500 videos of child pornography, representing copies of videos Roman had downloaded online.
Further investigation, conducted with assistance from the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, revealed that Roman had sexually assaulted a prepubescent girl.
Anyone with information about the distribution of child pornography on the internet – or about suspected improper contact by unknown persons communicating with children via the internet or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of children – to please contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 888-648-6007.
