Metairie Man Indicted for Receipt and Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material and Obscene Visual Representations of Child Sexual Abuse

According to the indictment, LILLIS distributed visual depictions of minors, including children as young as approximately four (4) years old, engaging in sexually explicit conduct, such as one depiction of a prepubescent female bound and unclothed.  LILLIS also received visual depictions of minors, as young as less than one (1) week old, engaging in sexually explicit conduct, including a newborn female with severe discoloration and bruising being victimized by an adult male.  LILLIS also received visual depictions of minors engaging in obscene conduct.

LILLIS faces a mandatory minimum of five (5) years in prison, and a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty (20) years as to each of Counts 1, 2, and 3.  LILLIS also faces at least five years, and up to a lifetime, of supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine for each count.  He may also be required to register as a sex offender.

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

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.

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter.  Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the Public Integrity Unit, is in charge of the prosecution.