SHREVEPORT, La. - United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Shreveport resident pleaded guilty Thursday to receiving child pornography.
Byron Morris, 57, of Shreveport, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. to one count of receiving child pornography. According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, law enforcement officers detected someone downloading and sharing child pornography in August of 2014 in Shreveport on a computer. After further investigation, officers were led to Morris’ residence, which was searched, and pornography was found on computers and other electronic storage media he owned.
Morris faces five to 20 years in prison, not less than five years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, mandatory registration as a sex offender and forfeiture of property seized during the investigation. A sentencing date of Feb. 17, 2016 was set.
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/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) also encourages 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 by visiting their website at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone application. Tips also may be submitted anonymously.
Homeland Security Investigations and Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
