NEWARK — An Ocean County man was sentenced this week to 29 years in federal prison for distributing child sexual abuse material through a dark web site used to trade illegal images and videos, federal prosecutors said.
Drew Holzlein, 57, also was sentenced to lifetime supervised release, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer said.
Federal authorities said Holzlein was a member and moderator of a dark web forum focused on the distribution of child sexual abuse material. Prosecutors said he participated in the site from about 2019 until his arrest in January 2024, sharing thousands of explicit images involving prepubescent children with other users.
Investigators searched Holzlein’s home in January 2024 and seized multiple electronic devices containing images and videos of child sexual abuse, according to court records and statements made in court. Prosecutors said Holzlein admitted to law enforcement that he had been active on the site for years and had served as a moderator.
Frazer said Holzlein’s role helped sustain an online network built around the exploitation of children.
“This sentence marks a critical measure of accountability and affirms my Office’s unwavering commitment to vindicating the rights and dignity of the most vulnerable,” Frazer said.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said the case shows that dark web users cannot rely on anonymity to avoid prosecution.
Federal officials said Holzlein had previously been convicted in New Jersey state court of two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
The investigation was handled by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Operational Unit, the FBI Newark Field Office, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and Manchester authorities.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Belgiovine of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and Trial Attorney William G. Clayman of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section prosecuted the case.
The case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a Justice Department initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
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