Union County Former Teacher Sentenced to 78 Months for Receiving and Possessing Child Pornography

NEWARK, N.J. - A Union County man was sentenced to 78 months in prison for receiving and possessing child pornography, Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello announced.

Jack Wilder, 27, of Somerville, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty 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. Judge Semper imposed the sentence on January 27, 2026.

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

In July 2024, when Wilder was a teacher at a school in Plainfield, New Jersey, law enforcement searched Wilder's cell phone and found child pornography. Then, in May 2025, when law enforcement arrested Wilder, they found additional child pornography that Wilder received on a second cell phone.

Senior Counsel Lamparello 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 sentencing.

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

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 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.

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Defense counsel: Michael Baldassare, Esq.

Jeff Hawriluk, Esq.