LAFAYETTE, La. - United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Melville man was sentenced Tuesday to 120 months in prison for storing child pornography on electronic devices.
Russell Guillory, 34, of Melville, La., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell on one count of possession of child pornography. He was also sentenced to 15 years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender. According to the October 9, 2015 guilty plea, Guillory’s home was searched in January of 2015. The investigation uncovered four electronic devices Guillory owned containing 75 videos and six images of child pornography. The Court noted that the child pornography involved extremely young children and babies and was some of the most disturbing of which he was aware.
“The exploitation of children through pornography is a horrible and reprehensible crime," Finley stated. “We take our responsibility to protect children seriously as this prosecution and sentencing once again demonstrates."
Homeland Security Investigations and the Louisiana State Police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamilla A. Bynog and John Luke Walker are 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 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) 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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
