MONROE, La. - United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Downsville man was sentenced to 342 months in prison for producing child pornography.
Michael S. Golden, 53, of Downsville, La., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert G. James on one count of production of child pornography. He was also sentenced a lifetime of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. At Golden’s September 4, 2014 guilty plea, law enforcement agents detected Golden transmitting child pornography online. Agents found that on April 29, 2014, Golden took sexually explicit photographs of a minor in order to create child pornography. He then used an email account to transmit the child pornography.
“The nearly 30-year sentence given to Michael Golden today should send a strong message to others who sexually abuse children that they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Finley stated. “Mr. Golden is a vile predator and the sentence imposed should protect others from his horrific conduct. The harm inflicted on minors through these acts cannot be measured. I want to thank the law enforcement agents and prosecutor for their work in brining Mr. Golden to justice."
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice launched 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 (CEOS), 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. 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. Tips may be submitted anonymously.
This case was investigated by ICE Homeland Security Investigations and the Louisiana State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Gillespie Jr. prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
