A Church Point man was sentenced on a child pornography charge in the U.S. District Court.
According to U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown, Brodie Carlton Thibodeaux, 35, of Church Point, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert R. Summerhays to 15 years in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release, for one count of receiving child pornography.
Thibodeaux pleaded guilty to the charge on Sept. 19, 2023.
Law enforcement agents with the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation (LBI) began an investigation after receiving a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that files containing child sexual abuse material had been uploaded by an individual. A search warrant was obtained and on Feb. 10, 2023, law enforcement officers with the LBI and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations executed the search warrant at Thibodeaux’s residence in Church Point. Their investigation confirmed that Thibodeaux was the user of the account that had uploaded the images. As a result of the search of his residence, agents located and seized a cell phone from Thibodeaux’s bedroom. A forensic analysis of that phone confirmed that more than 100 still images and more than 100 videos containing child sexual abuse material were stored on the phone.
Thibodeaux admitted to receiving these still and video images over the internet, Brown stated.
The case was investigated by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and LBI and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Craig R. Bordelon.
The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.