Former Kentucky substitute teacher sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for possessing, distributing child pornography

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A former substitute teacher in the Bowling Green School system was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison for possessing and distributing child pornography.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney John E. Kuhn Jr., Western District of Kentucky.  This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Canadian authorities, the Bowling Green Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Leon Lussier is a substitute teacher formerly employed by the Bowling Green School system.  He was sentenced Aug. 19 to 10 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Greg N. Stivers for possessing and distributing child pornography. Lussier, from Bowling Green, was arrested following a Sept. 1, 2015 criminal complaint; he was charged by grand jury indictment Sept. 16, 2015. He pleaded guilty to the charges in May 2016. 

In court, Lussier admitted that on three occasions, from June 23 to July 21, 2015, he participated in video conferencing rooms (chatrooms) where he was a participant in streaming child pornography through his webcam which was shared with other users on the site.

According to the initial charges, the international investigation that led to Lussier’s arrest started in January 2015, when the Toronto, Ontario, Canada Police Service’s Child Exploitation Section, received information regarding the investigation of a group of individuals involved in sexually abusing children, which included distributing child pornography. On June 23, 2015, a Toronto Police Service detective constable logged into an undercover software account and observed a person with the username “I luv boys” who was streaming child pornography videos by sharing his computer screen. The user streamed four child pornography videos.  Further investigation led law enforcement to Lussier as the person with username “I luv boys.”   

A search warrant of Lussier’s Bowling Green home resulted in the seizure of numerous computer media. A computer forensic review revealed several videos containing child pornography.  Several of the videos had been previously viewed in a chatroom by an undercover officer.  The videos were being live-streamed on a computer with an internet protocol address assigned to Lussier.

In addition to the prison sentence, Lussier was also ordered to pay $15,000 to victims and $50,000 in fines.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jo E. Lawless, Western District of Kentucky. 

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.