MERAUX MAN INDICTED ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES
KEVIN D. ESLER, 19, of Meraux, Louisiana, was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in New Orleans, for crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.
According to today’s indictment, ESLER is charged with possessing and receiving images depicting the sexual victimization of minors through the use of an XBOX game console and a cellular telephone. According to a criminal complaint filed last week in federal court, ESLER was arrested by Special Agents of U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after receiving a Cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. ESLER successfully convinced a 12 year old boy to send a sexually explicit image of himself to ESLER. ESLER was brought before U. S. Magistrate Judge Louis Moore, Jr. who remanded ESLER to the custody of the U. S. Marshal’s Service.
If convicted, ESLER faces a possible maximum sentence of twenty (20) years imprisonment with a mandatory minimum of five (5) years imprisonment, followed by up to a lifetime term of supervised release, a $250,000.00 fine and he will be required to register as a sex offender.
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.
This case is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Project Safe Childhood Coordinator, Assistant U. S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba.
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