Press Releases
CHILD PORNOGRAPHER SENTENCED TO TEN YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON
October 9, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JASON APPELDORN, 33, a resident of Gray, Louisiana, was sentenced yesterday in federal court before U. S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon to ten (10) years (120 months) in prison followed by a term of supervised release for life for crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.
In addition, the defendant was ordered to register and comply with the Sex Offender Registration Act, receive sex offender counseling, refrain from any use of a computer with Internet Access, and have no unsupervised contact with children under the age of eighteen. APPELDORN was previously convicted of Possession of Child Pornography on March 16, 2005, and, therefore, received an enhanced sentence.
According to court documents, on July 1, 2009, APPELDORN pled guilty to a Bill of Information for possession of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors. The defendant admitted that on March 5, 2009, U. S. Probation Officers, while conducting a search of APPELDORN’s residence determined that APPELDORN knowingly used his cell phone to search for, download, and save images of child pornography. APPELDORN was found to be in possession of approximately 8 images depicting the sexual victimization of children.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.
This case was investigated jointly by special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, ICE. The prosecution of this case was handled by Project Safe Childhood Coordinator, Assistant U. S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba.
