RECORD IMPOUNDED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the
internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. A-0104-20
STATE OF NEW JERSEY,
Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
JOHN M. RUDY,
Defendant-Appellant.
_______________________
Argued February 28, 2022 – Decided March 10, 2022
Before Judges Sabatino, Mayer and Natali.
On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law
Division, Hunterdon County, Indictment No. 18-06-
0101.
Melanie K. Dellplain, Assistant Deputy Public
Defender, argued the cause for appellant (Joseph E.
Krakora, Public Defender, attorney; Melanie K.
Dellplain, of counsel and on the brief).
Debra G. Simms, Deputy Attorney General, argued the
cause for respondent (Matthew J. Platkin, Acting
Attorney General, attorney; Debra G. Simms, of
counsel and on the brief).
PER CURIAM
After a jury trial, defendant John M. Rudy was found guilty of second-
degree endangering the welfare of a child by distribution of child pornography
(twenty-five or more items), N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4(b)(5)(a)(i) (count one); second-
degree endangering the welfare of a child by storing or maintaining child
pornography (twenty-five or more items) using a file-sharing program, N.J.S.A.
2C:24-4(b)(5)(a)(iii) (count two); and third-degree endangering the welfare of a
child by possession of child pornography (100 or more items), N.J.S.A. 2C:24 -
4(b)(5)(b) (count three).
At sentencing, the court merged defendant's conviction on count one into
count two, and imposed a seven-year term with a five-year period of parole
ineligibility. On count three, the court imposed a four-year term to run
concurrently with defendant's sentence on count two. The court granted the
State's application to place defendant on Parole Supervision for Life ("PSL"),
and required defendant to register as a sex offender. Defendant now appeals his
conviction on count two ("the file-sharing offense"), and his sentence. We
affirm.
Briefly stated, the salient facts are as follows. In March 2016, the New
Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit investigated the
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distribution of digital files containing child pornography through the peer-to-
peer file sharing network known as "BitTorrent." A peer-to-peer file sharing
network allows an individual with a computer to send files to and receive files
from other individuals' computers. As New Jersey State Police Detective
Sergeant Brian Kearns testified at trial, BitTorrent is "one of the more efficient
file sharing systems" because it "breaks up the files into smaller pieces ," which
makes it easier to share files even if the "download is interrupted ."
Kearns testified that, on March 12, 2016, he conducted a search over
BitTorrent for specific files containing a particular coding that he knew
indicated the file contained child pornography. Kearns located these files, and
the BitTorrent software, based on its automatic settings, downloaded the files
from a computer with IP address 73.33.191.144. Law enforcement was able to
determine, through a subpoena on the internet service provider for that IP
address, that the IP address was registered to defendant. Kearns used the
BitTorrent program to download over three hundred files from defendant's
computer, more than twenty-five of which contained child pornography.
Kearns and other law enforcement officers conducted a lawful search
pursuant to a warrant of defendant's one-bedroom apartment on June 9, 2016.
Police seized from the apartment a desktop computer, a laptop computer, and
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more than one hundred portable digital storage devices, including thumb drives.
Child pornography was found on both the desktop computer and m any of the
external storage devices found in defendant's apartment.
Detective Sergeant Christopher Camm, a New Jersey State Police forensic
examiner, testified at trial that he participated in the search and conducted a
"forensic preview" of defendant's computers. Defendant's desktop computer
was "on" when Camm found it. The computer was running "an application
named Free Torrent Download," which "allows people to download and share
files on the BitTorrent network." Files were being shared through that
application when Camm found the computer.
Camm found child pornography on both the desktop hard drive and on the
four external thumb drives found attached to the desktop. He discovered 4,616
pictures and videos, all of which, when taking duplication into account, totaled
"617 unique files." Over five hundred of these files matched files downloaded
by Kearns from defendant's computer using BitTorrent.
The State's proofs were further amplified by Investigator Jason
Tomecheck of the Division of Criminal Justice, who testified about his full
forensic examination of the electronics that were seized from defendant's
apartment. Tomecheck created a "clone" or "exact duplicate" of the hard drive
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of defendant's desktop. He noted that in the center of the screen was the "Free
Torrent Viewer" application, which was actively running. The application was
downloading files and was actively "seeding" other files; that is, allowing those
files to be downloaded by others through the peer-to-peer file sharing network.
Tomecheck described the settings options for the Free Torrent Viewer
application on defendant's desktop computer. Users like defendant have the
ability through these options to limit the downloads to their computers and limit
the uploads from their computers.
Tomecheck documented over 400 image files of child pornography on
defendant's desktop computer, some of which were admitted into evidence at
trial. These image files were located in the computer folder for Free Torrent
Viewer downloads.
Defendant testified on his own behalf. He stated that he lived by himself
in his apartment. Defendant admitted that he had downloaded child pornography
to his computer and various external storage devices. However, he claimed he
had never shared the child pornography with anyone. He also claimed that he
did not know what "BitTorrent" or a "file sharing program" was, and that he did
not know that law enforcement could download anything from his computer.
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As we have already noted, the jury found defendant guilty of all three
charged offenses, and he received the aggregate seven-year sentence and PSL
condition previously described.
On appeal, defendant presents the following arguments in his brief:
POINT I:
THE FILE-SHARING CHARGE SHOULD HAVE
BEEN DISMISSED BECAUSE N.J.S.A. 2C:24-
4(B)(5)(A)(III) CONTAINS AN
UNCONSTITUTIONAL STRICT-LIABILITY
PROVISION.
POINT II:
DEFENDANT WAS DENIED HIS
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TO DUE PROCESS
AND ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL WHEN THE
TRIAL COURT REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE
DEFENDANT'S COMPLAINTS OF INEFFECTIVE
ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL.
POINT III:
DEFENDANT'S SENTENCE IS EXCESSIVE
BECAUSE THE SENTENCING COURT ERRED
WHEN IT FAILED TO FIND MITIGATING
FACTORS ONE, TWO, EIGHT, AND NINE, FOUND
AGGRAVATING FACTORS THREE AND NINE,
AND IMPOSED PAROLE SUPERVISION FOR LIFE.
Having considered these points, we affirm defendant's convictions and sentence.
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With respect to the merits, defendant solely challenges his conviction of
the file-sharing offense on count two under N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4(b)(5)(a)(iii). He
does not appeal his conviction on the distribution and possession offenses in
counts one and three.
Defendant argues the file-sharing offense, which is a strict liability crime,
is unconstitutional because it imposes culpability where, as here, a computer
user asserts he is unaware of the file-sharing capability of the software program
and unwittingly fails to turn it off. He contends he was deprived of due process
of law because he allegedly had no notice he could be liable for criminal
distribution of the images on the file-sharing network.
The pertinent sections of the statute, which was adopted in 2013 as a
measure to strengthen child pornography laws and remain current with
technological changes, provide as follows: a "person commits a crime if, by any
means, including but not limited to the Internet, he[or she][]"
(iii) knowingly stores or maintains an item depicting
the sexual exploitation or abuse of a child using a file-
sharing program which is designated as available for
searching by or copying to one or more other
computers.
That same section also expressly states that
[i]n a prosecution under subparagraph (iii), the State
shall not be required to offer proof that an item
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depicting the sexual exploitation or abuse of a child had
actually been searched, copied, transmitted or viewed
by another user of the file-sharing program, or by any
other person, and it shall be no defense that the
defendant did not intend to distribute the item to
another user of the file-sharing program or to any other
person. Nor shall the State be required to prove that the
defendant was aware that the item depicting the sexual
exploitation or abuse of a child was available for
searching or copying to one or more other computers,
and the defendant shall be strictly liable for failing to
designate the item as not available for searching or
copying by one or more other computers.
[N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4(b)(5)(a)(iii).]
Before trial, defendant moved to dismiss the file-sharing count of the
indictment, and presented his constitutional arguments to the trial judge, Hon.
Angela F. Borkowski. The judge rejected his argument in a scholarly eleven -
page written opinion issued on December 7, 2018.
Among other things, the judge reasoned that "defendant cannot claim that
he had no notice that he was violating the law," as to commit a crime under
N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4(b)(5)(a)(iii), "defendant would first have to commit another
crime–possession of child pornography–as storing or maintaining an item of
child pornography in a file-sharing program requires that defendant already
possess an item of child pornography to store or maintain." Thus, because
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"defendant was on notice and his conduct was not unworthy of blame[,]" the
judge denied defendant's motion to dismiss the distribution charge.
We affirm the trial court's conclusion that the strict liability feature of the
distribution statute is constitutional. We do so substantially for the reasons
expressed by Judge Borkowski in her detailed written opinion, which we adopt
here. The statute does not violate due process. As the Supreme Court noted in
State v. Pominiak, 221 N.J. 66, 87 (2015), "[s]trict-liability statutes that have
withstood constitutional scrutiny typically involve an element of an offense that
involves an ascertainable fact of which a defendant can make himself aware to
avoid criminal liability." Here, defendant could have made himself aware of the
distribution function of the file-sharing program he installed on his computer.
In addition, as the judge noted, the Legislature had a rational basis to proscribe
such dangerous conduct. See State v. Maldonado, 137 N.J. 536, 552 (1994).
Defendant unsuccessfully attempts on appeal to distinguish one of the
main cases relied upon by the trial judge, State v. Ivory, 124 N.J. 582 (1991).
In Ivory, the Court upheld the strict liability provisions of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7,
which makes it a third-degree offense to distribute or possess with intent to
distribute a controlled dangerous substance within 1,000 feet of school property,
whether or not defendant knows he is within that distance of a school. As the
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Court held, this "statute presents a rational and reasonable approach by the
Legislature to reduce drugs around schools." Id. at 595. "So long as there are
indicia from which an objectively reasonable person could know that the school
property was used regularly, consistently, and actually for school purposes, lack
of knowledge by a drug dealer" or anyone else "that he or she is within 1,000
feet of school property is irrelevant. Under such circumstances prosecution of
a defendant under this statute does not violate due process." Id. at 592.
Defendant argues the school-zone statute upheld in Ivory is not
comparable, by asserting that "people know that not only is drug possession
illegal, but going to any place outside with drugs on your person is also risky
behavior," but, with respect to N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4(b)(5)(a)(iii), "[a]lthough a
person may know that child-pornography possession is illegal, that person is not
on notice that the files they believe they simply possess are automatically
distributing themselves to other people on the internet."
However, defendant's argument elides the Supreme Court's specific
holding in Ivory that it is not the defendant himself who must be "on notice" that
his actions are illegal. Rather, so long as "an objectively reasonable person
could know" the facts that would subject defendant to strict criminal liability,
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the law comports with due process. Ivory, 124 N.J. at 592. The State's proofs
about the functions of the file-sharing network met this objective test.
Turning to defendant's challenge to his sentence, we discern no basis to
set it aside or the PSL component. The mid-range sentence reflects a reasonable
assessment of aggravating and mitigating factors and does not shock the judicial
conscience. State v. Fuentes, 217 N.J. 57, 70 (2014). Even if, for the sake of
discussion, we overturned the judge's conclusion that certain mitigating factors
invoked by defendant were inapplicable and her finding that aggravating factor
three (the risk of reoffending) does apply, the sentence is nonetheless fair and
not an abuse of discretion. The PSL condition imposed under N.J.S.A. 2C:43 -
6.4(a) was likewise justified to protect children and the public in the future.
Lastly, insofar as defendant argues his trial counsel was ineffective, that
claim should be pursued through a future petition for post-conviction relief.
State v. Preciose, 129 N.J. 451, 460 (1992).
To the extent we have not expressly addressed them, all of defendant's
remaining arguments lack sufficient merit to warrant discussion. R. 2:11-
3(e)(2).
Affirmed.
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