SHREVEPORT, La. - United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Bossier City man was sentenced to 180 months in prison for receiving child pornography.
Kenneth Ray Jurls, 40, of Bossier City, La., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote on one count of receiving child pornography. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender. According to evidence presented at the May 20, 2015 guilty plea, law enforcement agents detected someone downloading child pornography using a peer-to-peer internet file sharing program. Law enforcement agents searched Jurls’ home on July 16, 2014 and seized his computer. A forensic examination of the computer revealed Jurls had been downloading child pornography for years. More than 1,000 images and videos of child pornography were found on his computer.
“Sooner or later a child predator’s illegal activity will come to light," Finley stated. “This defendant contributed to the abuse of children by downloading and trading massive amounts of child pornography online. My office will hold those accountable who possess, trade and view this type of material."
Homeland Security Investigations, Louisiana Attorney General’s Office and the Bossier City Marshal’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney F. Michael O’Mara prosecuted 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, 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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
