Ville Platte Man Sentenced to 70 Months in Prison for Possessing, Receiving Child Pornography
LAFAYETTE, LA - September 25, 2015 - United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Ville Platte man was sentenced Thursday to 70 months in prison for possessing and receiving more than a thousand images of child pornography using an Internet file sharing program.
Bradley Smith, 60, of Ville Platte, La., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote on two counts of possession of child pornography and three counts of receiving child pornography. He was also sentenced to 10 years of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender. A federal jury found Smith guilty after deliberating for 40 minutes after a two-day trial that ended on July 14, 2015. Evidence admitted at trial revealed that in September of 2012, law enforcement detected Smith using an Internet file sharing program to download child pornography. The software is used to trade files on the Internet among its members. Law enforcement searched Smith’s residence on September 24, 2012 and seized his computer and computer hard drives. After a forensic examination of the hardware, a total of 40 videos and 1,100 images of child pornography were found.
The FBI and Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Luke Walker and Robert C. Abendroth prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Those concerned may also leave tips with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. Tips may be submitted anonymously. The Lafayette FBI office number is (337) 232-2164.
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Western District of Louisiana
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