D’Iberville Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography

Gulfport, Miss.  -- A D’Iberville man pled guilty to possession of visual depictions of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

According to court documents, Benjamin Lee Poiroux, 40, was encountered by FBI agents at the  Gulfport Airport and gave consent for his electronic devices to be forensically searched.  The search of his iPad, laptop, and cellular telephone revealed he possessed over 1,300 visual images and 75 videos of visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, also known as child sexual abuse materials.

Poiroux is scheduled to be sentenced on May 30, 2024, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.  A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee and Acting Special Agent in Charge Maher Dimachkie of the Federal Bureau of Investigation made the announcement.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the case with assistance from the Cyber Crime Division at the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.