Jersey Child Porn Peddler Sentenced to Prison

Your News

Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced that a Hudson County man was sentenced to prison today in connection with successive arrests for possession of numerous files of child pornography, one in Ocean County in 2014 and one in Hudson County in 2016. The defendant was charged as the result of investigations by the New Jersey State Police, Division of Criminal Justice and Bayonne Police Department.

Andrew Bann, 31, of Bayonne, N.J., was sentenced to three years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Mirtha Ospina in Hudson County. Bann pleaded guilty on Oct. 23 to a charge of third-degree possession of 100 or more files of child pornography related to the Hudson County arrest, and a second charge of third-degree possession of child pornography stemming from the arrest in Ocean County. The Ocean County indictment was transferred to Hudson County for a global resolution of the case. Bann was sentenced to three years in prison on each charge, with the sentences to run concurrently. He will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will face parole supervision for life.

Deputy Attorney General Brandy Malfitano took the guilty pleas and handled the sentencing for the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer Crimes Bureau.

Bann was arrested by detectives of the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit on Oct. 28, 2014 in Toms River, after detectives received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about an individual who was uploading child pornography to his email account. The account was traced to Bann, who was found to have more than 60 files of child pornography on his laptop computer when he was arrested. Bann was facing an indictment charging him with possession of child pornography related to the Ocean County arrest when he was re-arrested in Bayonne on Oct. 4, 2016 by detectives of the State Police and Bayonne Police Department. That arrest was the result of a second NCMEC tip regarding a user who was uploading child pornography to a file sharing and storage account, which again was traced to Bann. At the time of his second arrest, Bann possessed more than 100 files of child pornography on a tablet computer and electronic storage device.


“Even after he already faced criminal charges for possessing child pornography, Bann went right back to uploading this filth,” said Attorney General Porrino. “These offenders go to great lengths to satisfy their deviant desires, but we will go to much greater lengths to arrest them and seek justice for the children who are tortured and exploited in the creation and distribution of these abhorrent materials.”

“We’re putting these sex offenders on notice that when they use the internet to share child pornography, they’re sharing evidence of their crimes,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “We will continue to patrol the internet and follow every tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to send these offenders to prison.”

“Andrew Bann had more than a hundred videos and images of abuse, cruelty, and sexual assaults against innocent children,” said Colonel Patrick Callahan, Acting Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “The law enforcement community is placing these offenders on notice that we are actively working together to uncover their repulsive deeds and bring them to justice.”

Deputy Attorney General Brandy Malfitano prosecuted Bann for the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer Crimes Bureau, along with Deputy Attorneys General Lilianne Daniel and John Nicodemo, who presented the Ocean County indictment to the state grand jury. Attorney General Porrino commended the detectives who worked on the case for the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit and the Bayonne Police Department.

Attorney General Porrino and Director Honig urged anyone with information about the distribution of child pornography on the Internet – or about suspected improper contact by unknown persons communicating with children online or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of children – to please contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force tip line at 888-648-6007.

You appear to be using an ad blocker

Shore News Network is a free website that does not use paywalls or charge for access to original, breaking news content. In order to provide this free service, we rely on advertisements. Please support our journalism by disabling your ad blocker for this website.