TONY TEMPLET, 45, of Gretna, Louisiana, was sentenced today in federal court before U. S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon to ten (10) years (120 months) in prison for receipt of child pornography, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten. TEMPLET was also ordered to serve a five (5) year term of supervised release during which time he will be under federal supervision and risks additional imprisonment should he violate any terms of the release, as well as register as a sex offender.

According to court documents, TEMPLET pled guilty in federal court on March 11, 2010. The court record shows that TEMPLET was identified by federal law enforcement officials as having purchased access to child pornography websites. On December 30, 2008, Special Agents with the with the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seized TEMPLET’S computer and related electronic media from TEMPLET’S Carol Sue Avenue apartment during their investigation.

TEMPLET confessed to using his computer to search for, download, and save videos of children being sexually victimized. Further, TEMPLET told the ICE agents that he had a child pornography collection that included videos of children as young as 10 years old. TEMPLET said that he was confident he was the only person with access to his computer because it was password protected.

Along with the assistance of Interpol and other federal law enforcement agencies, ICE agents were able to determine that TEMPLET had not only subscribed to international child pornography websites but that he also possessed and had downloaded videos of previously identified children throughout the United States. In total, ICE Computer Forensic Examiners found approximately 206 videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children.

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.

The prosecution of this case was handled by Project Safe Childhood Coordinator, Assistant U. S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba as well as Assistant U. S. Attorneys Matthew S. Chester and Jordan Ginsberg.

 

 

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