New Orleans Man Federally Charged in a Superseding Indictment with Producing Files Depicting the Sexual Victimization of Children, Extorting Minor Females to Send Sexually Explicit Depictions, and Distribution and Receipt of Child Sexual Abuse Material

DIGGS faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of fifteen (15) years and a maximum term of imprisonment of thirty (30) years as to each of Counts 1, 3,4, 5, and 6, a maximum term of imprisonment of two (2) years as to each of Counts 2 and 7, a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five (5) years and a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty (20) years as to Count 8, and a minimum term of imprisonment of five (5) years and a maximum sentence of twenty (20) years as to Count 9.  DIGGS also faces a lifetime of supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine that applies to each count. DIGGS also faces payment of a mandatory special assessment fee per count and can be required to register as a sex offender.

U. S. Attorney Evans reiterated that a superseding 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.