Port Barre man sentenced for child porn possession

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A Port Barre man was sentenced to 24 months in prison for possessing child pornography on his computer and an external hard drive, a news release from U.S. Attorney David Joseph stated.
John G. Bertrand, 35, of Port Barre, was sentenced on Jan. 2 by U.S. District Judge Dee. D. Drell on one count of possession of child pornography. He was also sentenced to seven years of supervised release and is required to register as a sex offender.
According to the July 25, 2018, guilty plea, law enforcement agents identified an IP address associated with Bertrand’s residence as downloading child pornography from the internet. Agents searched Bertrand’s home on Dec. 15, 2016, and found a MacBook laptop containing 491 images and 88 video files of child pornography. They also found an external hard drive containing 292 images and 43 video files of child pornography. Bertrand admitted to agents that he had downloaded and stored the child pornography on these devices.
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 projectsafechildhood.gov.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement a encourage the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 866-347-2423. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online by visiting the website at ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone application ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app. Tips may be submitted anonymously.