William Acker - Deputy Clerk had Child porn

William Acker, 52, of Fair Haven, entered a guilty plea Feb. 11 before state Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci Jr. to the fourth-degree crime of endangering the welfare of a child. Acker is scheduled to be sentenced April 25, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

Acker was employed by the borough of Fair Haven from December 2004 through March 2006 as a deputy clerk and assistant tax collector. In addition, he is a retired 20-year veteran of the Fair Haven Police Department, according to a press release from the Prosecutor's Office.

The terms of Acker's plea agreement provided for the state to recommend to the court that Acker be sentenced to a term of probation. The state will further recommend that conditions of Acker's probation include counseling, unannounced searches of his personal computers, and a prohibition upon downloading or viewing pornographic materials, the press release states.

Under New Jersey law there is a statutory presumption that a defendant who has not previously been convicted of a crime and who is being sentenced for a crime of the fourth degree receive a sentence of probation. New Jersey law also requires that Acker forfeit any potential future public office within the state of New Jersey and surrender his emergency medical technician (EMT) certificate, according to the press re- lease.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the matter was referred to the Prosecutor's Office by the Fair Haven Police Department after they received a complaint alleging that Acker had accessed an adult pornographic Web site while at work.

Acker resigned from his positions as deputy clerk and assistant tax collector in March 2006. Following his resignation, the press release said, erotic stories dealing with child sex and other issues that had been downloaded from the Internet were discovered in Acker's former workspace. The borough computer that had been assigned to Acker was then turned over to the Prosecutor's Office, where it was forensically examined by detectives assigned to that office's Computer Crimes Unit. That examination revealed approximately 13 images in Acker's computer user account depicting children under the age of 16 engaged in prohibited sexual acts.

Acker has been free on his own recognizance since Nov. 26, 2007.

Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin stated, "As a municipal employee, Acker should have been serving the people of Fair Haven Borough. He chose instead to satisfy his own prurient interests by downloading images of child pornography. As a result, he will be barred from future public employment and bear the other consequences of a criminal conviction."