Melville man pleads guilty to possessing child pornography

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Melville man pleaded guilty last week to storing child pornography on electronic devices.

Russell Guillory, 34, of Melville, La., entered a conditional guilty plea Friday for one count of possession of child pornography before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick Hanna. The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik. According to the guilty plea, Guillory’s home was searched in January of 2015. The investigation uncovered four electronic devices Guillory owned containing 75 videos and six images of child pornography.
 

Guillory faces up to 10 years in prison, five years to life supervised release and a $250,000 fine. He is also required to register as a sex offender and forfeit the devices and images seized during the investigation. A sentencing date was not set.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Louisiana State Police investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamilla A. Bynog and John Luke Walker are 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 combines 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. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) also 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 by visiting their website at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone application (http://www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app). Tips also may be submitted anonymously.