United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana
09/23/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/23/2024 15:52
Thibodaux Man Sentenced to 60 Months Imprisonment for Possessing Child Sexual Abuse Material
Press Release
Thibodaux Man Sentenced to 60 Months Imprisonment for Possessing Child Sexual Abuse Material
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana
NEW ORLEANS - U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that SIMON PAUL ADAMS ("ADAMS"), age 28, a resident of Thibodaux, La., was sentenced on September 18, 2024, to 60 months imprisonment by United States District Judge Lance M. Africk after ADAMS had previously pled guilty to possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B). Judge Africk also ordered ADAMS to serve 10 years of supervised release after his release from prison, to comply with sex offender registration requirements, to pay a $100 mandatory special assessment fee, and to pay $18,000 in restitution to the victims.
According to court documents, on multiple dates, including, on or about October 15, 2022, December 14, 2022, and January 19, 2023, Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") agents investigated the sharing of digital files depicting the sexual exploitation of children via a peer-to-peer file sharing network. Agents downloaded a series of files and videos depicting, among other things, the sexual exploitation of juvenile females, from an IP address connected to ADAMS's residence in Thibodaux.
Agents executed a search warrant at ADAMS's residence in July 2023 and seized electronic devices, containing files (i.e., obscene images and videos) depicting the sexual victimization and abuse of children. An analysis of the devices revealed approximately 5 images and 70 videos depicting the sexual victimization of children and over 30 images and 1,500 videos depicting obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children. Some of the depictions included children, less than three years old, being victimized, as well as, depictions portraying sadism, masochism, or violence, generally.
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.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the Public Integrity Unit, was in charge of the prosecution.
Contact
Shane M. Jones
Public Information Officer
United States Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana
United States Department of Justice
Updated September 23, 2024
Topic
Project Safe Childhood