Metairie Man Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child Pornography

Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that BRIAN LISTER, age 31, of Metairie, pled guilty today to a one-count Indictment charging him with receipt of images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children.

According to court documents, Special Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant at LISTER’s residence on July 23, 2015, after obtaining information that LISTER had repeatedly accessed a website dedicated to the advertisement and distribution of child pornography. During the search, the FBI seized numerous electronic items including one laptop computer and one external digital storage device that contained images and videos of child pornography. A forensic examination of the device revealed that LISTER used the devices to search for, download, and save images and videos of children as young as approximately two years old engaging in sexually explicit conduct. LISTER obtained most, if not all, of the images and videos via a peer-to-peer file sharing program. The forensic examination located approximately 1,148 images and one video of prepubescent children engaging in sexually explicit conduct on LISTER’s electronic devices.

LISTER faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum of 20 years, followed by up to a lifetime of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. He can also be required to register as a sex offender. U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo set sentencing for December 21, 2017.

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 United States 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.

Acting U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg is in charge of the prosecution.