GRETNA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO RECEIPT OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
TONY TEMPLET, 46, of Gretna, Louisiana, pled guilty today in Federal Court before U. S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon to Receipt of Child Pornography, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.
Just three days before he was scheduled to go to trial, TONY TEMPLET entered a guilty plea to Count One of an indictment charging him with the unlawful receipt of child pornography. TEMPLET, who was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 28, 2009, stood before Judge Lemmon and admitted to knowingly downloading and receiving 206 graphic videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children.
According to the indictment as well as documents filed in federal court, TONY TEMPLET was identified by federal law enforcement officials as having purchased access to child pornography websites. On December 30, 2008, Special Agents with the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seized TEMPLET’S computer and related electronic media from TEMPLET’S Carol Sue Avenue apartment during their investigation.
TEMPLET confessed to using his computer to search for, download, and save videos of children being sexually victimized. TEMPLET told the federal agents that he used the peer-to-peer file sharing program LimeWire to download and save videos of child pornography to his computer. TEMPLET admitted that he used specific search terms knowing that he would locate child pornography with these search terms. Further, TEMPLET told the ICE agents that he had a really bad child pornography collection and had videos of children as young as 10 years old. TEMPLET said that he was confident he was the only person with access to his computer because it was password protected.
Along with the assistance of Interpol and other federal law enforcement agencies, ICE agents were able to determine that TEMPLET had not only subscribed to international child pornography websites but that he also possessed and had downloaded videos of previously identified children throughout the United States.
TEMPLET faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five (5) years and a maximum penalty of twenty (20) years, followed by up to a life term of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Additionally, TEMPLET can be required to register as a sex offender. Sentencing in this matter is scheduled for June 17, 2010 at 2:00 P.M. before U.S. District Judge Lemmon. The defendant remains in custody of the U.S. Marshal and is being held without bond.
U. S. Attorney Letten expressed his gratitude to the Audrey Hepburn Care Center at Children’s Hospital of New Orleans for their extraordinary assistance and support in the investigation and prosecution of this offender. Letten further stated, “Today’s plea is a testament to the hard work of the men and women of the New Orleans office of the U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who investigated this case along with the members of the U. S. Attorney’s Office. This conviction is a direct result of their unwavering commitment to the protection of our 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 Department of Justice, 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.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by Project Safe Childhood Coordinator, Assistant U. S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew S. Chester and Jordan Ginsberg.
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