Lake Charles man pleads guilty to receiving child pornography on computer

LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Lake Charles man pleaded guilty Thursday to receiving child pornography on his home computer.

Ricky Joseph Guidry, 31, of Lake Charles, entered a conditional guilty plea for one count of receiving child pornography to U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen Kay. The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi. According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, a witness told law enforcement agents there was child pornography on Guidry’s computer. After conducting an examination of the computer, it was determined that the defendant downloaded child pornography on October 2^nd and 3^rd of 2014. The child pornography included prepubescent child pornography that was sadistic in nature.

Guidry faces five to 20 years in prison, not less than five years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. He is also required to register as a sex offender. A sentencing date was not set.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney John Luke Walker is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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, 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) encourage 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 or through the Operation Predator smartphone app (http://www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app). Tips may be submitted anonymously.