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Press Release

West Monroe man pleads guilty to receiving child pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Louisiana

MONROE, La. Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that a West Monroe man pleaded guilty Thursday to receiving child pornography.

 

John D. Owen, 30, of West Monroe, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. to one count of receiving child pornography. According to the guilty plea, law enforcement agents identified the defendant as possessing child pornography. Agents conducted a search of his residence on September 22, 2016 and found five videos of child pornography on his cell phone and 38 images of child pornography on a computer.

 

Owen faces five to 20 years in prison, five years to life of supervised release, mandatory registration as a sex offender and a $250,000 fine. The court set the sentencing date for September 27, 2017.

 

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 combines 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.

 

Those concerned may leave tips with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. Tips may be submitted anonymously. The Monroe FBI office number is (318) 387-0773.

 

The FBI, Swiss Cybercrime Coordination Unit and the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tennille M. Gilreath is prosecuting the case.

Updated June 2, 2017

Topic
Project Safe Childhood