Luling Man Sentenced to 60 Months in Prison for Possessing Files Depicting the Sexual Victimization of Children

NEW ORLEANS – DOMINIC ROMANO, age 22, a resident of Luling, Louisiana, was sentenced, March 30, 2023, by United States District Judge Barry W. Ashe to 60 months in prison after  previously pleading guilty to a one-count indictment charging him with possession of images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children under the age of twelve years old, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 2252(a)(4)(B), announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.   Additionally, Judge Ashe ordered ROMANO to serve a 10-year period of supervised release and pay a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.  Judge Ashe scheduled a hearing on July 6, 2023 to determine the amount of restitution ROMANO must pay to the victims of his offense. 

According to court documents, the Federal Bureau of Investigation received a tip from another law enforcement agency that an individual, subsequently determined to be ROMANO, accessed an online bulletin board having an explicit focus on the advertisement, distribution, and facilitation of sharing child abuse material.  The bulletin board contained sections and forums cataloged by the age of the victims and the nature of the violence inflicting on them.

The FBI executed a search warrant on ROMANO’s residence on May 7, 2020.  A forensic review of the evidence revealed that ROMANO knowingly used several of the electronic devices seized during the execution of the search warrant to search for, download, and save images and videos of child sexual abuse material.  In total, ROMANO’s seized devices contained at least 2589 image and 62 videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children, including children less than three years old.  Among ROMANO’s collection was a digital presentation that purported to be an instruction manual on how to successfully victimize “very young girls” without being caught.