Youngsville man sentenced to 220 months in prison for distributing, possessing child pornography

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Youngsville man was sentenced Thursday to more than 18 years in prison for distribution and possession of child pornography.

Thomas Hanes, 49, of Youngsville, La., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell on one count of distribution and one count of possession of child pornography. He was also sentenced to 10 years of supervised release. According to the November 7, 2016 guilty plea, Hanes was identified through an investigation as distributing thousands of files of child pornography using an online peer-to-peer network. Law enforcement agents searched his home in Youngsville on February 26, 2016 and found sexually explicit images of children as young as two and three years of age on electronic media.

Homeland Security Investigations, Louisiana State Police and the Youngsville Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamilla A. Bynog 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, 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.