U.S. Department
of Justice
Lake Charles man sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for receiving child pornography on computer
LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Lake Charles man was sentenced Thursday to 210 months in prison for receiving child pornography on his home computer.
Ricky Joseph Guidry, 31, of Lake Charles, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi on one count of receiving child pornography. He was also sentenced to serve a lifetime of supervised release and must register as a sex offender. According to evidence presented at the March 14, 2015 guilty plea, a witness told law enforcement agents there was child pornography on Guidry’s computer. After conducting an examination of the computer, it was determined that the defendant downloaded child pornography on October 2nd and 3rd of 2014. The images included prepubescent child pornography that was sadistic in nature.
Homeland Security Investigations and the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Luke Walker prosecuted the case.
“The internet is no longer a safe haven for child predators to view illegal images and encourage child abuse,” Finley stated. “This office will prosecute those who download, view and distribute child pornography. Law enforcement officers and prosecutors will continue in their work to bring these abusers to justice.”
“Criminals who trade in child pornography steal the innocence of children and contribute to the destruction of innocent lives,” said HSI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Raymond R. Parmer Jr. “HSI special agents are actively working to identity and arrest those who abuse children as well as those who further exploit them by recording the abuse.”
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, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) encourage the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) DHS-2ICE. Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone app (http://www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app). Tips may be submitted anonymously.