Zackary McFerren, Sending Obscene Images to Minors, New Jersey 2020

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Camden County, New Jersey, man has admitted to sending obscene material to minors and violating the terms of his supervised release, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Zackary McFerren, 28, of Winslow Township, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman in Camden federal court to two counts of transferring obscene matter to minors.

McFerren had previously pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and transferring obscene material to a minor and was sentenced October 17, 2016, to 33 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, which started May 3, 2019.

McFerren's supervised release included not committing another federal crime, submitting to computer monitoring by the U.S. Probation Office, and restricting his contact with minors.

McFerren admitted to using a mobile phone to communicate with an individual he believed to be a 13-year-old girl living in New York starting on July 15, 2019. Unbeknownst to McFerren, he was actually communicating with an undercover FBI employee. He expressed an interest in having sex with the 13-year-old girl and sent her obscene images of himself.

The charges to which McFerren pleaded guilty each carry a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison per count and a fine of $250,000. McFerren faces up to an additional four years for violating the term of supervised release from his previous conviction. Sentencing is scheduled for April 22, 2020.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force with the investigation leading to today's guilty plea. The task force is made up of FBI special agents and detectives from the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office, Atlantic County Sheriff's Office, the New Jersey State Police, and the N.J. Department of Human Services Police.

The government is represented by Senior Trial Counsel Jason M. Richardson of the U.S. Attorney's Office Criminal Division in Camden.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/camden-county-man-admits-sending-obscene-images-minors