Prison for N.J. man who paid out-of-state child to send him sexual materials

A man who paid an out-of-state minor to send him sexual photos and videos has been sentenced to federal prison.

Jeremy Greenwald, 47, of South Amboy, received a 15-year sentence on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey said in a statement. His sentence also includes 15 years of supervised release.

Greenwald previously pleaded guilty to receipt and possession of child pornography.

He communicated with the girl through an online chat service between May 2022 and February 2023, eventually persuading her to send about 70 images and videos performing sexual acts, authorities said. A review his financial records later found that he sent her between $7 and $10 on multiple occasions, according to the case’s criminal complaint.

Greenwald also sent the victim sex toys, lingerie and costumes, requesting that she use them while taking the photos and videos, federal prosecutors said.

In the complaint, FBI Special Agent Charles Paddock described records recovered when investigators searched Greenwald’s computer and three cell phones.

These included images and videos depicting prepubescent child sexual abuse, including those that the girl had sent him, as well as conversations between him and the child that involved explicit sexual language, Paddock wrote.

Investigators also said in the court document that he was living at his South Amboy residence by himself at the time of the crimes, the same location that the IP address connected to the conversations was traced to, and that he had accessed the internet with a secure and protected password.

The case was part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child exploitation online.