

ELIZABETH — A former New York Jets football player pleaded guilty today to spreading sexually revealing images of a girlfriend on social media.

Jermaine Cunningham, 26, admitted before Superior Court Judge William Daniel that he posted photos of the woman's inner thigh, groin and buttocks on an Instagram account in December 2014. Cunningham admitted to posting the photoso as part of plea deal in which he will be placed on probation.

Under questioning from his lawyer, Alfred Gellene, Cunningham also admitted that he posted the images without the woman's permission and "tagged" the pictures with the woman's name in his posts on Instagram. During the hearing, the woman was identified only by the initials "A B."

Cunningham, who was arrested last December at his Summit apartment when police responded to a domestic violence complaint, pleaded guilty to a third-degree crime of invasion of privacy and also pleaded guilty to fourth-degree charges of illegally transporting a handgun in the glove compartment of his car and having hollow-point bullets.

Cunningham said he had legally owned the gun in Florida before he brought it to New Jersey. As a result of his plea he also will be required to forfeit the gun.

Dressed in a suit and dress shirt with no tie, Cunningham gave short, polite responses, saying "Yes, your honor," to questions the judge asked about the guilty plea.

The judge said if Cunningham had gone to trial and been convicted of all the charges, he could face a maximum sentence of 18 years in prison.

Cunningham's arrest became one of the latest high-profile cases of what is known as "revenge porn."

He was charged under a New Jersey statute that makes it a crime to distribute sexual images of someone without that person's consent. The 10-year-old law was the first in the nation to make the spreading of such images a crime.

In court, Daniel said that as part of the agreement, Cunningham will be permitted to serve the probationary term in Georgia, where he has relatives.

The length of the probation period Cunningham must serve will be set at sentencing on June 19.

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Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.