Union County Teacher Admits to Receiving and Possessing Child Pornography

NEWARK, N.J. - A Union County man admitted to receiving and possessing child pornography, Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Attorney Alina Habba announced.

Jack Wilder, 27, of Somerville, New Jersey, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Jamel K. Semper in Newark federal court to an Information charging him with one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On or about July 23, 2024, Wilder, a teacher at a school in Plainfield, returned from an international trip aboard a flight that landed in New York. Law enforcement seized Wilder's cell phone at the airport and subsequently searched it, uncovering images and videos of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Approximately one week after law enforcement seized his cell phone, Wilder obtained a new cell phone. From on or about July 29, 2024 through on or about May 1, 2025, Wilder knowingly received images and videos of child pornography on the second cell phone.

The charge of receipt of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years in prison, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine. The charge of possession of child pornography carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for January 26, 2026.

Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Attorney Habba credited the work of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations Newark, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael S. McCarthy, with the investigation leading up to this guilty plea.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department's Criminal Division, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/psc.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey S. Smith of the Criminal Division in Newark.

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Defense counsel: Michael Baldassare, Esq.