U.S. Department
of Justice
Press Release
Ex-Tugboat Captain Sentenced For Transporting Child Pornography
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Louisiana
LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that former tugboat captain Kenneth Dwight Dickey, 57, of Foley, Ala., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi to 108 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for transporting child pornography. He pleaded guilty August 1, 2013.
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, law enforcement authorities detected Dickey downloading child pornography using “peer-to-peer” software. Those using peer-to-peer software usually take a file and place it in a “shared folder” on a computer for the purpose of distributing it to others on the internet. A search of the defendant’s computer and phone on October 15, 2012 showed that Dickey was in possession of child pornography. He also admitted to transporting child pornography from Mississippi to the Western District of Louisiana. The child pornography on the computer was sadistic in nature.
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, law enforcement authorities detected Dickey downloading child pornography using “peer-to-peer” software. Those using peer-to-peer software usually take a file and place it in a “shared folder” on a computer for the purpose of distributing it to others on the internet. A search of the defendant’s computer and phone on October 15, 2012 showed that Dickey was in possession of child pornography. He also admitted to transporting child pornography from Mississippi to the Western District of Louisiana. The child pornography on the computer was sadistic in nature.
Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Luke Walker prosecuted the case.
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 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.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) DHS-2ICE. Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp.
Updated May 26, 2017
Topic
Project Safe Childhood
Component