Florence man indicted for storing child porn

Images were stored on office computer

By:Vanessa S. Holt
   TRENTON — A Florence man employed by the state Office of Information Technology in the Treasury Department was indicted last week by a state grand jury on charges of storing images of child pornography on his office computer, Attorney General John J. Farmer and the Division of Criminal Justice announced last week.
   Joseph Viola, 51, was indicted on one count of second-degree official misconduct and one count of fourth-degree endangering the welfare of a child through possession of child pornography, said Division of Criminal Justice Director Kathryn Flicker.
   An investigation by the division’s Computer Analysis Technology Unit began in late 1999 after several co-workers claimed to have seen child pornography images on Mr. Viola’s computer, said Ms. Flicker.
   The case was presented to a grand jury by state Deputy Attorney Charles Ouslander, chief of the Computer Analysis Technology Unit.
   Mr. Viola’s case was handed up to Mercer County state Superior Court Judge Charles A. Delehey and will be assigned to Mercer County for trail, said Ms. Flicker.
   Mr. Viola could face a maximum of 11½ years in prison and could be barred from public employment for life if convicted.
   An indictment is an accusation and does not presume guilt, said officials at the Division of Criminal Justice.
   The Division of Criminal Justice implements the powers and duties of the attorney general in prosecuting criminal matters in the state.