Child Porn Distribution Gets Man At Least 15 Years

A Lincoln Park man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to charges of distribution of child pornography through the Internet.

William Rensing, 46, has prior convictions for sexual assault of a minor and now faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 15 years in prison and maximum potential penalty of up to 40 years in prison, in addition to a $250,000 fine, according to U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 22.

Rensing was arrested at his home in July 2011 after law enforcement officials, including some from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, executed a search warrant, seizing a notebook computer that Fishman said had sexual abuse images and videos of children. Some of the images depicted children as young as six years old.

During a court appearance on March 25, 2011, Fishman said Rensing admitted to using file-sharing software to disseminate sexual images of children through the Internet.

Rensing pleaded guilty Thursday before U.S. District Judge Jerome M. Simandle in Camden to the first count of the indictment.