Pineville man pleads guilty to possessing child pornography online

ALEXANDRIA, La. – Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that a Pineville man pleaded guilty Monday to using an online storage site to house child pornography.

Brandon McNamara, 26, of Pineville, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell to one count of possession of child pornography. According to the guilty plea, Canadian law enforcement agents arrested a resident of British Columbia in 2016 for online child pornography distribution. Canadian agents identified McNamara’s online alias as one of 57 different users exchanging child pornography with the Canadian defendant. Canadian agents alerted U.S. law enforcement, and McNamara was questioned on December 9, 2016. He admitted to possessing images of child pornography and said they were being stored on an online storage account.

McNamara faces up to 20 years in prison, five years to life of supervised release, mandatory registration as a sex offender and up to a $250,000 fine. The court set the sentencing date for December 15, 2017.

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.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) also encourage the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) 347-2423. 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 www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app. Tips may be submitted anonymously.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Vancouver Royal Canadian Mounted Police conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamilla A. Bynog and David J. Ayo are prosecuting the case.