Man pleads guilty to luring teen for sexual activity, downloading child pornography

NEWARK, N.J. — A Sussex County man pleaded guilty Wednesday to luring a teenage boy to Pennsylvania for sex and downloading and receiving child pornography on his home computer. The guilty plea resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

According to court documents, HSI special agents arrested Robert Mucha, 57, at his home July 26, 2012, after they found child pornography on his home computer. HSI’s investigation revealed, in October 2010, Mucha also convinced a teenage boy to travel from New Jersey to Pennsylvania to spend the day with him and then sleep over at Mucha’s apartment in Stroudsburg, Pa. After he was arrested, Mucha admitted to sexual contact with the teenager. He has been in law enforcement custody since that date.

Mucha is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 19. He faces between 10 years and life in prison, as well as a $250,000 fine.

Prior to his arrest, Mucha worked as a volunteer emergency medical technician in Andover. He also previously taught band and bugle corps to teenagers in Belleville and Lakewood.

The guilty plea is part of Operation Holitna, an ongoing HSI-led investigation that originated in Boston. This investigation was also part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or its online resource for reporting child sexual exploitation.

HSI is a founding member and the U.S. representative of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.