Louisiana man sentenced to 6 years for child pornography possession

LAFAYETTE, La. — A Louisiana man was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison Wednesday for one count of possessing child pornography. The sentencing follows an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Louisiana State Police.

Tommie J. Beason, 37, of Franklin, previously admitted during his guilty plea in October 2014 that he downloaded 230 images and 88 videos of hardcore child pornography. The files included prepubescent child pornography and also sadistic content. HSI and state investigators seized the child pornography in June 2014 after executing a search warrant of Beason’s home subsequent to detecting the trade of illegal images via his Internet connection.

In addition to his prison term, U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik ordered Beason to serve five years of supervised release following the completion of his prison sentence.

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 12,000 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 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

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. 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.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.