Jul 25, 2008 1:22 pm US/Eastern
NJ Legislators Weigh Blocking Porn Web Sites
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) ―
Legislative officials are considering whether to install software on state computers to block pornography after state investigators seized computers from a veteran assemblyman being investigated for child pornography possession.
Albert Porroni, state Office of Legislative Services executive director, said legislative computers don't currently block such Web sites. He said he and other top legislative officials met on Friday to discuss how to handle that amid Assemblyman Neil Cohen's legal concerns.
"It's a very specialized kind of thing and it has to be dealt with carefully so that you don't block a site that you've got to do legitimate research on," Porroni said. "But nonetheless, we are going to address it."
He wouldn't comment on how that might happen.
Legislative leaders may issue a statement Friday.
The state Attorney General's office on Wednesday seized computers from Cohen after staffers in his Union County office discovered the images, then told Sen. Raymond Lesniak and Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, who share Cohen's district office.
Cryan said they then told state legislative officials, who in turn notified the Attorney General's office. He hasn't been charged.
Lee Moore, spokesman for Attorney General Anne Milgram, said the office had no comment. State police referenced calls to the attorney general's office, and the U.S. Attorney's Office also declined to comment.
Cohen, 57, a Democrat from Roselle, hasn't answered calls to his cell phone nor responded to text messages.
A man at Cohen, Cryan and Lesniak's Union Township district office declined to comment. The office seemed largely empty.
Rosa Sanchez, who works at a bakery across the street, said Cohen regularly came in for coffee.
"We never saw anything strange," Cohen said. "We're really surprised that it happened. It's a shame if it's true."
After serving as a Union County freeholder from 1988 to 1990, Cohen served in the Assembly from 1990-91 and from 1994 to present.
Cohen, who is single, began his legal career as a trial lawyer in the Middlesex County Public Defender's Office and practices law in a Montclair office he shares with Sen. Nia Gill, D-Essex. Gill didn't immediately respond to messages at her law and legislative offices.
Dr. Tod W. Burke, a criminal justice professor at Radford University in Virginia and a former Maryland police officer, wasn't directly knowledgeable about the Cohen case, but said generally someone addicted to Internet pornography is no different than someone addicted to alcohol and drugs. He said it also doesn't matter whether someone holds an important position.
"Sometimes those who develop programs or create legislation have greater knowledge concerning the issue at hand," he said. "As a result, the person gets a bit sloppy assuming that he or she will not get caught. After all, who better to know their way around the system than the person who is a part of the system?"
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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