Port Barre man sentenced to 24 months for possessing child pornography on home computer

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that a Port Barre man was sentenced on January 2, 2019 to two years in prison for possessing child pornography on his computer and an external hard drive. 

John G. Bertrand, 35, of Port Barre, Louisiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee. D. Drell on one count of possession of child pornography.  He was also sentenced to seven years of supervised release and is required to register as a sex offender. According to the July 25, 2018 guilty plea, law enforcement agents identified an IP address associated with Bertrand’s residence as downloading child pornography from the internet.  Agents searched Bertrand’s home on December 15, 2016, and found a MacBook laptop containing 491 images and 88 video files of child pornography. They also found an external hard drive containing 292 images and 43 video files of child pornography.  Bertrand admitted to agents that he had downloaded and stored the child pornography on these devices.

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 conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert C. Abendroth prosecuted the case.