Gaetano Lapegna, a 65-year-old resident of Franklin, New Jersey, has admitted to distributing videos and images depicting child sexual abuse, according to a statement released by U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger’s office on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.
Lapegna pleaded guilty on March 5, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi in Newark federal court to one count of distribution of child pornography.
Gaetano is registered to vote in Sussex County and he is affiliated with the Republican Party.
The guilty plea follows an investigation into Lapegna’s activities, which revealed disturbing evidence of his involvement in distributing illicit materials.
Between December 2022 and March 2023, Lapegna utilized a publicly available online peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing program to disseminate videos and images depicting child sexual abuse.
An undercover law enforcement officer, conducting online sessions via the same P2P program, encountered a user sharing hundreds of such illicit materials from an IP address traced back to Lapegna’s residence.
Following a lawful search of Lapegna’s home on March 30, 2023, law enforcement officers uncovered over 100 items containing child pornography on a thumb drive belonging to Lapegna.
Authorities also discovered that Lapegna’s computer was actively running the same version of the P2P program used to share child pornography.
The charge of distribution of child pornography carries severe penalties, including a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000. Lapegna’s sentencing is scheduled for July 23, 2024.
Special agents of Homeland Security Investigations Newark, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso, spearheaded the investigation leading to Lapegna’s guilty plea.
Sellinger commended the collaborative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office, and Franklin Borough Police Department for their invaluable assistance in the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Farhana C. Melo of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Newark is representing the government in this matter.