Andrew Martins, Managing Editor
A 46-year-old music teacher and children’s singer/songwriter who has performed for children at synagogues, Jewish community centers, camps and conventions nationwide was taken into police custody on Tuesday on child pornography charges.
Eric S. Komar, of Hillsborough, was apprehended at his home on Lorien Place without incident, according to Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick. He was subsequently charged with one count of receiving and distributing child pornography.
According to the official criminal complaint, the alleged crimes were first observed in late April, when a law enforcement officer accessed a publicly available peer-to-peer network and found images of children in sexually explicit situations being shared by a computer that was traced back to Komar.
At the musician’s home, responding officers recovered various computer equipment. A cursory search of the desktop computer allegedly resulted in officials finding the same peer-to-peer file sharing program, as well as a number of illicit photos and videos involving the sexual abuse of children.
While being read his Miranda rights, officials said Komar admitted that he: used the program to download child pornography; stored the images in hidden files on his devices; had a large library of child pornography that he estimated could be in the thousands of images and videos; and uses said imagery for his sexual gratification on a daily basis.
Komar made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Court Judge James B. Clark III yesterday in Newark federal court and was remanded without bail. In the event that he is convicted, Kovac will serve a minimum of five years in prison, but could stay behind bars for up to 20 years and a $250,000 fine.
Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher; members of the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson and County Chief of Detectives John W. Fodor; the Hillsborough Township Police Department, under the direction of Chief Darren Powell, and the N.J. Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, with the investigation leading to the charges.
Anyone with information regarding possible victims of this activity is urged to contact the FBI in Newark at 973-792-3000.
