Ocean County School Bus Driver Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Distributing Images of Child Sexual Abuse Over Internet

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey
July 16, 2013

TRENTON, NJ—An Ocean County, New Jersey school bus driver was sentenced today to 120 months in prison for distributing images of child sexual abuse over the Internet through his home computer, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Frank J. Bognar, 31, of Jackson, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with one count of distribution of child pornography.

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

As early as October 27, 2011, Bognar downloaded and distributed videos and images of child pornography on the Internet via a peer-to-peer file sharing network, through which others had access to the material on a shared drive. The FBI seized a computer containing videos and photographs of child sexual abuse, including images of sadistic and masochistic conduct against children, during a search of his residence on February 9, 2012. He was arrested later that day.

As part of his plea, Bognar agreed to surrender six firearms and assorted ammunition that were seized on the day of his arrest.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Pisano sentenced Bognar to 10 years of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force in New Jersey, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato; the Jackson Township Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Matthew D. Kunz; and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office task force officers, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Carolyn Murray, for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Clabby of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.