Morris County Man Charged with Producing, Possessing and Mailing Child Pornography

 NEWARK, N.J. – A Morris County, New Jersey man who is employed by a New Jersey elementary school and helps run a youth soccer club has been charged in connection with production, possession and mailing child pornography, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced today.

Steven Brooks, 34, of Morristown, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with one count of production of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of mailing child pornography. He is scheduled to appear by videoconference today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In January 2021, law enforcement officers were notified about possible child pornography on an external hard drive belonging to Brooks. Law enforcement officers conducted a legally authorized search of Brooks’ external hard drive. The investigation revealed that Brooks used a fake online persona on a social media account to solicit nude photos and videos from teenage victims. A video file on Brooks’s external hard drive showed the fake online persona that Brooks created using a social media platform to communicate with a minor and to solicit the minor to send a video that depicted the minor masturbating. There were dozens of other images of child sexual abuse.

The production of child pornography charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison. The possession of child pornography charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The mailing of child pornography charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison. Each charge also includes a maximum fine of $250,000.

Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents and members of the Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force of the Newark field office of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr., as well as special agents from the FBI’s San Francisco field office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Craig D. Fair, with the investigation leading to the charges and arrest.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Levin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Violent Crimes Unit in Newark.

The charges and allegations against the defendants are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.