A man from Passaic County, New Jersey, has been sentenced to over 16 years in prison for offenses related to child pornography. Edward M. O’Hagan, aged 51 and a resident of Hawthorne, pleaded guilty to charges of transporting and possessing child pornography before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo. The sentencing took place in Newark federal court.
U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced the sentence, highlighting that law enforcement identified two email accounts linked to O’Hagan which were used to transmit video files containing child pornography via the internet on January 19, 2023. Further investigation revealed that these email addresses employed an encrypted file storage platform for uploading or creating files containing illicit material accessed from an IP address traced back to O’Hagan’s residence.
Following a lawful search conducted on May 22, 2023, authorities recovered hundreds of images and videos depicting child pornography from O’Hagan’s electronic devices.
In addition to the prison term of 194 months, Judge Arleo imposed a lifetime term of supervised release on O’Hagan and ordered him to pay $86,000 in restitution to the victims.
The investigation was credited by U.S. Attorney Habba to special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Newark under Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy’s direction. The Hawthorne Police Department and Passaic County Sheriff’s Office also assisted.
The case is prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Farhana C. Melo and Aaron L. Webman from the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
