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Jackson Dietrich, 31, should be out in less than four years, having spent 362 days in the Bergen County Jail since his Nov. 26, 2013 arrest by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Computer Crimes Task Force and New Milford police.
“I apologize for what I did,” he told Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian on Friday. “Not a day goes by that I don’t regret it.
“I am ashamed for my family, and I ask for mercy,” said Dietrich, who lives with his parents and whose last job was as a busboy three years ago, according to defense attorney Joseph Rem.
Rem asked Jerejian to suspend parole supervision for life, a standard requirement for sex offenders.
Not to downplay the seriousness of child pornography and its distribution, Rem said, “but parole supervision for life is intended for offenders who commit crimes against actual victims.
“I understand that if fewer people looked at child pornography, maybe people would take fewer photos,” he told the judge. “He didn’t touch a child, he didn’t assault anyone.
“After his prison term he will be sitting at home. The authorities will be monitoring his computer.”
The judge, in turn, asked Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Brian Sinclair about the type of images.
“They included acts of sexual penetration — vaginal penetration, anal penetration,” Sinclair responded.
The age range of the victims was broad, with the oldest victim about 16 years old, he told Jerejian.
The images numbered in the hundreds, at least 25 of which Dietrich shared, Sinclair said.
“[B]ecause of the quantity, we literally stopped counting,” he said.
Although parole supervision for life is at a judge’s discretion, “it is the best tool we have for monitoring ongoing illegal activity,” the assistant prosecutor said.
“While Megan’s law is a very valuable weapon in the arsenal, there are many people in Bergen County living near Megan’s Law offenders, and they have no idea because only the police have to be notified,” he said.
“The real way to monitor him is parole supervision for life,” Sinclair said. “That will limit his ability to ever harm a child. It will prevent him using the Internet without prior written approval.”
Jerejian rejected Rem’s request.
“There is no greater concern that could be expressed by this court than to prevent the sexual exploitation of children depicted in these photos,” he said. “Although I understand there was not a victim he had direct contact with, nevertheless, the children in those hundreds of photos are real victims.”
STORY / PHOTO: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter Mary K. Miraglia
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