Louisiana and federal authorities aggressively prosecute cases involving child pornography. Anyone accused of owning, manufacturing, sharing or even merely receiving pornography involving minors faces serious consequences if convicted. Therefore, it is essential that anyone facing this type of sex crime allegation seek the assistance of an experienced defense attorney immediately.
Recently, a 19-year-old Baton Rouge freshman was arrested for allegedly possessing child pornography. Authorities claim that during an undercover investigation, they discovered a shared folder with an IP address that was connected to the male student. Investigators said the folder contained at least 14 files of child pornography. Anyone who had peer-to-peer software could reportedly access the file.
The man connected with the IP address was arrested and is currently in the East Baton Rouge Parish prison.
It is not uncommon for members of the Attorney General’s High Technology Crime Unit to work undercover to identify people who possess, manufacture or distribute child pornography in Louisiana. In this particular investigation, they apparently searched parts of the Internet that are accessible to the general public when looking for videos and other images of pornography involving juveniles and only used peer-to-peer file sharing software to locate the people they believe owned and shared the images.
If the Internet or the mail is implicated in a child pornography charge, the federal government may get involved. Federal prosecutors generally have greater expertise and financial resources than state prosecutors. However, despite the impressive power of the federal government, the prosecution has the burden to prove that the accused person downloaded, viewed, saved or shared the child pornography and not someone else who had access to the same computer.
Source: The Nicholls Worth, “Student connected to child porn,” Katelyn Thibodeaux and Ashley Falterman, 20 April 2011