Houma Man Charged with Failure to Register as a Convicted Sex Offender and Distribution of Child Pornography

Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that DAVID KLIMENKO, age 29, of Houma, was charged today in a Bill of Information with Failure to Register as a Convicted Sex Offender and Distribution of Child Pornography.

According to court records, KLIMENKO was previously convicted of Sex Offense in the Third Degree (engaging in vaginal intercourse with another if the victim is 14 or 15 years old, and the person performing the act is at least 21 years old), in violation of CR 3-307(a)(5) of the Annotated Code of Maryland, in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, Maryland under Case No. 02-CR-15-547. KLIMENKO's Maryland conviction required him to register as a sex offender and complete Sex Offender Registration Forms (“Registration Form”). The terms of KLIMENKO’s sex offender registration and reporting requirements require that if he elected to move from Maryland, he was required to notify Maryland law enforcement, to register with law enforcement in his new state, and complete a Registration Form within 3 days. According to law enforcement officers, KLIMENKO moved from Maryland to Louisiana in 2016 and failed to notify law enforcement authorities of his move to Louisiana. Additionally, KLIMENKO used his Facebook account to distribute child pornography on the Internet.

Acting U. S. Attorney Evans reiterated that the Bill of Information is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Due to his prior conviction, if convicted, KLIMENKO faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years imprisonment up to 40 years, followed by up to a life term of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

Acting U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations in investigating this matter. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Fraud Section Chief, Assistant U. S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba.