LAFAYETTE, LA—United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that Gary Berry, 23, of Lafayette, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik to 168 months in prison and 15 years of supervised release for receiving child pornography on his computer. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

According to evidence presented at the guilty plea on September 5, 2013, law enforcement detected Berry using file sharing software to collect and distribute prepubescent child pornography online in 2012. Law enforcement searched Berry’s home and found hardcore prepubescent child pornography, some involving infants, on his computer.

The FBI and the Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Luke Walker prosecuted 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 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 http://www.justice.gov/psc.

Those concerned may leave tips with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov and may be submitted anonymously. The Lafayette FBI Resident Agency number is (337) 233-2164.