NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - THOMAS BROUSSARD (“BROUSSARD"), age 69, of Houma, Louisiana, pleaded guilty today to receiving child pornography, announced United States Attorney Peter G. Strasser.
According to documents filed in federal court, on Jan. 23, 2018, agents with the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI"), and the Louisiana State Police executed a search warrant and arrested BROUSSARD at his Houma home after finding him in possession of several items, including a laptop computer and thumb drive containing images depicting the sexual victimization of prepubescent children. A subsequent computer forensic search by HSI agents revealed over 11,000 images and 85 videos of prepubescent child pornography.
BROUSSARD faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five (5) years imprisonment up to twenty (20) years, followed by up to a life term of supervised release, and a $250,000.00 fine. BROUSSARD will be sentenced on March 26, 2019, by United States District Court Judge Jay C. Zainey.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources."
U.S. Attorney Strasser praised the work of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, the Louisiana State Police, and the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office in investigating this matter. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Fraud Section Chief, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
