Local Doctor Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charge

Rocco Martino, 43, of South Orange, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to receiving and distributing photos and videos of child pornography, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.  The photos typically showed pre-pubescent children being sexually abused, sometimes violently.

In a Newark federal court room, Martino, who practiced internal and sports medicine with the Summit Medical Group in Berkeley Heights , entered his guilty plea to the charge of one count of receipt and distribution of child pornography.

The charge of possessing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, and a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  Martino will be sentenced on April 10, 2012.

As part of his plea, Martino will forfeit his computer and accessories that he used to commit the crime.  He is also required to register as a sex offender.

Martino admitted that between November and December 2010, he downloaded and posted videos and images of child pornography via peer-to-peer file sharing software, through which others had access to the material on a shared drive.  Among the images downloaded and shared by Martino were images of numerous children younger than 12 and depictions of sadistic and violent conduct.  Federal investigators found pictures of very young children being restrained and sexually abused, including one image of a toddler bound and gagged.

Martino's page on the Summit Medical Group website, which has since been removed, described him as a specialist in sports medicine and integrative medicine.  He is a graduate of Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Princeton University, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.  He served his residency in internal medicine at Brown Medical School and completed a fellowship in sports medicine at the Jersey Shore Medical Center.

In a press release by New Jersey district attorney’s office, U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI Newark Division’s Cyber Crime Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward; detectives of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Cyber Crimes Unit, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray; and the , under the direction of Chief James Chelel, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.