A New Jersey man will spend the next 14 years behind bars for his role in promoting child sexual abuse material on the dark web, federal authorities announced Tuesday.
Declan Golden, 39, of Middletown Township, was sentenced to 168 months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to charges related to the promotion of child pornography involving prepubescent minors. Court documents revealed that Golden accessed and engaged with a website on the Tor network known for trading child sexual abuse material between October 2020 and January 2023.
Dark Web Activities
Prosecutors stated that Golden’s online activities weren’t merely passive. The Middletown resident actively encouraged others to share exploitative images with him and posted links to images of minors engaging in explicit conduct.
What made the case particularly disturbing? Investigators found that Golden had been viewing child sexual abuse material since 2014, establishing a pattern of behavior that spanned nearly a decade before his arrest. He also made statements about using a spycam on girls in the shower and on the toilet, according to New Jersey Attorney General officials.
When authorities examined Golden’s devices, they discovered numerous files involving prepubescent minors. The evidence was damning enough that Golden entered a guilty plea in May 2025 to promoting material containing child pornography.
Legal Consequences
“A Middletown man was sentenced Tuesday to 14 years in prison and 15 years of supervised release for promoting child sexual abuse material on the dark web,” local news outlets reported.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet.
Golden’s sentence—168 months in federal prison—reflects the severity of his crimes. The additional 15 years of supervised release ensures that his activities will be closely monitored long after he completes his prison term.
The Tor network, which Golden used to access and share illicit materials, is designed to provide anonymity to its users by routing internet traffic through a worldwide network of servers. But as this case demonstrates, even the dark web’s veil of secrecy isn’t impenetrable to determined law enforcement efforts.
