Former Scout leader sentenced to state prison on child pornography charges

Published on June 20, 2017

A former Boy Scout leader was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in New Jersey State Prison following his conviction on 11 child pornography charges in a case brought by the Morris County Prosecutor's Office under the direction of Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp.

Stephen Corcoran, 49, of Parsippany was sentenced by Judge Thomas Critchley in state Superior Court, Morristown.

The defendant did take advantage of his position of trust and confidence, said Assistant Morris County Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn, who handled the case for the state.

Judge Critchley noted that the crimes involved the cruel and damaging exploitation of children.

Corcoran was found guilty April 12 on 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child by possessing child pornography on a thumb drive and one count of exhibiting or showing child pornography to someone else.

Specifically, he was sentenced to five years on the one count of showing child pornography to someone else and two years total on the 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Those terms will be served consecutively, bringing Corcoran's total sentence to seven years in prison.

Corcoran also faces trial on sexually abusing three juveniles who were Boy Scouts in the 1990s. Those charges were severed from the pornography case and the jury was not told about them. Despite this accusation, the defendant is presumed innocent on these charges unless, or until, he is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

The case came to light in 2011 during an investigation into the alleged sexual assaults. Evidence presented at trial established that a witness disclosed that Corcoran had exhibited child pornography to him and law enforcement officials subsequently recovered a thumb drive containing child pornography images and videos from Corcoran's home.

The investigation that led to Corcoran's conviction was conducted by the Sex Crimes Child Endangerment and High Tech Crimes units of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, the Criminal Investigation Section of the Morris County Sheriff's Office and the Parsippany Police Department.

Inquiries about this press release should be directed to Public Information Officer Fred Snowflack at (973) 829-8159 or at pressinquiry@co.morris,nj.us