Ferriday Funeral Home Director Sentenced to 70 Months in Prison for Receiving Child Pornography
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 19, 2013 |
ALEXANDRIA, LA—U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that funeral home director John Casey Young, 45, of Vidalia, Louisiana, was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell to 70 months in prison and nine years of supervised release for knowingly receiving child pornography on his computer. He was also ordered to pay a $16, 750 fine and will be required to register as a sex offender.
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, the Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered that Young used his work computer to search for child pornography on the Internet. Young pleaded guilty on March 15, 2013.
“Mr. Young’s actions furthered the abuse of children and contributed to a worldwide trade of such material,” Finley stated. “Our office will continue to prosecute cases such as this as part of our ongoing effort to protect child victims.”
“This investigation should serve as yet another reminder to the community of the strong and continuous commitment of the FBI and its law enforcement partners to expend all our available resources to protect children from such despicable conduct,” said Michael J. Anderson, FBI Special Agent in Charge, New Orleans Division.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Earl M. Campbell and John Luke Walker prosecuted the case.
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.justice.gov/psc.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) 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 at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp. Tips may be submitted anonymously.
Those concerned may leave also tips with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. Tips may be submitted anonymously. The Alexandria FBI Resident Agency number is (318) 443-5097.