Kentucky substitute teacher pleads guilty to child pornography charges

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A substitute teacher, formerly employed by the Bowling Green School system, pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to possessing and distributing child pornography.

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

Leon Lussier, 49, of Bowling Green, was arrested by criminal complaint Sept. 1, 2015, and charged by grand jury indictment Sept. 16, 2015.

In a May 16 court, Lussier admitted that on three occasions, from June 23 to July 21, 2015, he participated in video conferencing rooms (chat rooms) where he was a participant in streaming child pornography through his webcam that was shared with other users in the room.

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

A search warrant executed at Lussier’s Bowling Green home resulted in seizing numerous computer media.  A forensic review of an HP Pavilion computer revealed several videos containing child pornography.  Several of these videos had been previously viewed in a chat room by an undercover officer.  The videos were being live-streamed on a computer with an Internet Protocol address assigned to Lussier.

Lussier faces a minimum of five years and up to 30 years in federal prison, a $500,000 fine, and up to a lifetime of supervised release.  Lussier is being held in USMS custody pending sentencing by U.S. District Judge Greg N. Stivers in Bowling Green.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jo E. Lawless, Western District of Kentucky, is prosecuting this case.

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.