Man jailed for distributing thousands of child porn images

TRENTON - A South Jersey man who distributed thousands of child pornography images and videos is headed to state prison.

Thomas Ballard received a seven-year sentence Friday. He also must register as a sex offender and will be on lifetime parole supervision.

The 38-year-old Egg Harbor Township man had pleaded guilty last September to distributing child porn.

Authorities: S.J. man possessed, distributed child porn

Ballard was arrested in September 2014 after authorities executed a search warrant at his home.

The subsequent investigation revealed that he had sent nearly 12,000 videos and images of child porn to other users he met on a foreign-based website from August 2012 through August 2014, including videos of prepubescent girls being bound and tortured.

Authorities say he also wrote numerous explicit posts at the site regarding the sexual exploitation of children.