Internet predator sentenced in federal court for producing child pornography
Defendant receives 293 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release
LAKE CHARLES, La. – A Louisiana man was sentenced to more than 21 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release Thursday for enticing minors to engage in criminal sexual activities and producing child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Louisiana State Police (LSP).
Jamy Church, 34, of Sulphur, La., was sentenced by U. S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
Beginning in June 2009, Church, who was coaching Little League baseball at the time, created multiple Facebook pages using the names and images of high school females. He then began using the false personas to contact boys between approximately 13 and 16 years of age, asking them to be "friends" on "her" Facebook page. After contacting the minor boys, he would send sexually explicit images of females that he represented to be the females from his Facebook page. Church would then ask the boys to send sexually explicit images of themselves and would also ask the boys to expose their genitals and masturbate while taking the image of themselves. Between 2009 and 2011, Church induced more than 50 boys to produce sexually explicit images of themselves.
"This sentence should serve as a stern reminder for child sex predators who mistakenly believe they can escape justice by sexually abusing children without serious consequences," said Raymond R. Parmer Jr., special agent in charge of HSI New Orleans. "HSI will continue to work closely with its law enforcement counterparts nationally and internationally to target those who sexually exploit our children, robbing them of their innocence and their youth."
Parmer oversees HSI activities for the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee.
United States Attorney Stephanie Finley said, "Too many children are victimized by predators that target the most vulnerable among us - our children. This case reveals the disturbing truth that child predators will go to great lengths to sexually exploit minors, to include Facebook, to reach them. My office is committed to protecting our children. We will continue to ensure that justice is served through prosecution and pursuit of heavy sentences for the individuals who seek to victimize children."
HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.
Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Luke Walker.
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