Date: 10-17-2014

Case Style: United States of America v. John Lea

Case Number:

Judge: Paul K. HOlmes

Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas (Sebastian County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Dustin Roberts

Defendant's Attorney: James B. Pierce - FPD

Description: Fort Smith, Arkansas - Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that John Lea, age 42, of Fort Smith, was sentenced today to 360 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release on two counts of Receipt of Images of Child Pornography. The Honorable Paul K. Holmes III, presided over the sentencing in the United States District Court in Fort Smith.

U.S. Attorney Eldridge stated, “Assuring that justice is served in cases involving crimes that victimize children remains one of the highest priorities of our office. Every time a video or image involving sexual abuse of children is downloaded or viewed, those children are re-victimized. We will continue to aggressively prosecute cases such as this and hold those who commit crimes involving children accountable for their actions.”

In March, 2014, agents from Homeland Security Investigations executed a federal search warrant related to the trafficking of child pornography over the internet at the home of Lea in Fort Smith. Agents seized an Apple IPhone and a Blackberry. A subsequent forensic examination of the devices revealed multiple images and videos of child pornography. Lea admitted to exchanging child pornography over the internet and to saving the images on his cell phone. One of the images depicted an adult male performing a sex act on an approximately three-year-old male. During sentencing, it was revealed that Lea had been previously convicted on two separate occasions for Sexual Abuse in the First degree, both of which involved the sexual abuse of a minor. Lea pleaded to the two charges of Receipt of Images of Child Pornography on June 11, 2013.

“Individuals who engage in the trade of child pornography online steal the innocence of children and potentially destroy lives,” said HSI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Raymond R. Parmer Jr. "This case shows HSI investigators are actively working to identity and disrupt the trade of these illegal images, and also to identify and seek prosecution of the criminals who produce and possess them.”

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and their Criminal Division Child Exploitation and Obscenity Sections (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals 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, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Outcome: See above

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Defendant's Experts:

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