Washington State Man Sentenced To 24 Months In Prison For Attempting To Send Obscene Images To A Minor

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that Michael David Honan, 59, of Gig Harbor, Wash., was sentenced to 24 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Richard T. Haik for attempting to send obscene materials to a minor.  Honan is also required to complete three years of supervised release and pay a $4,000 fine.  Honan pleaded guilty on Nov. 27, 2012.
                                                                                                           
 According to the evidence presented at the guilty plea, Honan, who traveled to Houma, La., from Washington state for work, engaged in online communication from August 2011 to September 2011 with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl. It was in fact an undercover law enforcement officer. Honan admitted to sending obscene images of himself via webcam and directing who he thought was a 14-year-old girl to websites displaying pornography. Honan was arrested in a Houma hotel Sept. 16, 2011 while chatting online with an undercover officer.
                                                                       
 Homeland Security Investigations, the Lafayette Police Department and the Houma Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Myers P. Namie prosecuted the case.

 This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice launched 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 (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 U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) DHS-2ICE.  Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online at http://www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp.