N.J. man pleads guilty to on-line child pornography

From an online press release\nA northern New Jersey man who sent and received child pornographic images over the Internet pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to one count of possessing child pornography, authorities said.\n Eugene Byrnes, 47, of Kinnelon, New Jersey, faces five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced in August, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey said. \n Byrnes admitted before U.S. District Court Judge John Lifland in Newark that in September 1996 he possessed 180 photos and more than 20 images on computer disks showing children posing pornographically.\n An indictment charged him with sending eight and receiving 16 kiddie porn images over America Online, the nation's most popular Internet provider.\n Byrnes' case brings the total convictions nationally since 1995 in connection with on-line child pornography to 202 under a special FBI program called Innocent Images, said FBI special agent Larry Foust in Baltimore.\n About two-thirds involved child pornographic images transmitted over America Online because it is the most user-friendly, Foust said. The 13-year-old company has 12 million customers.\n AOL spokeswoman Tricia Primrose said the firm cooperates with the FBI and does all it can to prevent child pornography, including round-the-clock monitoring of chat rooms.