Stephen W. Thompson retired from Superior Court after his arrest on a child-pornography charge in April. Federal counts.

CAMDEN - New charges are imminent against a disgraced Superior Court judge who retired after his April arrest on a state child-pornography charge, according to law enforcement sources.

Stephen W. Thompson is expected to face a federal pornography charge that usually carries a 27-month minimum prison sentence on conviction. The state charge levied in April would not likely result in a jail term.

When the new charges are made public, authorities also are expected to cite a videotape that allegedly shows Thompson performing a sex act on a child, the sources said. Officials said the tape, which provided the first evidence of physical contact with a child, was made overseas.

Thompson referred questions yesterday to his lawyer, Leonard S. Baker of Haddonfield, who did not return phone messages.

Thompson's arrest on April 30 stunned the Camden County legal community. The Haddon Township resident had presided over family and criminal cases for 20 years and was generally admired.

He pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. At the time, a Superior Court judge in Mercer County, hearing the state case to avoid any potential conflict of interest in Camden, said there was no reason to believe Thompson had abused children directly. Nonetheless, the judge barred Thompson from unsupervised contact with minors.

The New Jersey Supreme Court suspended him the same day. He retired a short time later.

The case was developed by the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and New Jersey state police. In the weeks after Thompson's arrest, state authorities referred the case to federal officials because of alleged links to other states and countries, the large volume of pornographic material and, as one official described it, "evidence beyond pornography [of] sex acts with children."

In the state system, the amount of contraband seized is irrelevant. But in the federal system, the more pornography seized, the greater the possible charges and potential penalties.

Double jeopardy is not an issue in this case. The government could pursue simultaneous state and federal charges.

Spokesmen for the state and federal prosecutors would not comment yesterday.

Thompson, 56, is a graduate of the University of Maryland and the Rutgers-Camden School of Law. He was decorated for his service in Vietnam, where he lost his right leg in combat.

After his arrest, other judges and lawyers praised Thompson's legal abilities and said he was an inspiration to other amputees - for example, teaching disabled children how to ski. In 1996, citing his patriotism and civic service, the Daughters of the American Revolution awarded him its highest national award, the Medal of Honor.

On the bench at the Camden County Hall of Justice, Thompson handled a variety of cases, from simple drug possession to murder.

He sentenced several men to prison for having sex with minors.

In 2001, he sentenced a Winslow Township man to 10 years for molesting a 5-year-old girl.

In 1996, he sentenced an Audubon Park man to 10 years for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 5-year-old in the restroom of a McDonald's in Mount Ephraim.

Perhaps Thompson's most publicized case came in 1998, when he sentenced Bruce Seldon, a former world heavyweight boxing champion, to 364 days in prison and five years' probation for having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

In sentencing Seldon, Thompson cited the boxer's celebrity status: "Mr. Seldon shouldn't be punished more because he's a celebrity, but he is a role model, and people look up to him."