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Louisiana Lawyer and Another Louisiana Man Sentenced to 44 Years Combined in Two Separate Child Pornography Cases

Louisiana – On October 6, 2022, United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced the sentencing of two defendants who were involved in separate child pornography cases. United States District Judge James D. Cain, Jr. sentenced the following individuals:

Michael Allen Smith, Jr., 33, of Leesville, Louisiana, was sentenced to 168 months in prison (14 years) followed by 20 years of supervised release for enticement of a minor. Smith pleaded guilty to the crime on February 17, 2022, following an inquiry into a complaint submitted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in January 2020. (FBI). The mother of a 15-year-old child reported that her son met and engaged in sexual activity with an adult male while visiting a relative in the Leesville, Louisiana area.

The mother informed police she saw a video on her son’s phone showing him and the adult male engaging in sexual activity. She took her son’s phone and handed it over to the police for further investigation.

Agents questioned the victim and discovered that he had engaged in these behaviors with Smith, who had recorded them on his phone at his Leesville apartment. The victim admits to meeting Smith on the social media platform Grindr and initially telling Smith he was 21 years old. However, he eventually admitted that he was a minor, and Smith prolonged the sexual interaction with the victim despite knowing he was a minor after visiting his social media pages.

The FBI investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys J. Luke Walker and Earl M. Campbell.

In another case, Raymond Fontenot, Jr., 39, of Reeves, Louisiana, was sentenced to 30 years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for child pornography production. On July 6, 2022, Fontenot pleaded guilty to the accusation. According to evidence given in court, on November 9, 2021, officers from the Allen Parish Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at Fontenot’s residence. During their investigation of the house, officers discovered an Android tablet stashed in Fontenot’s bathroom.

For the tablet, a new search warrant was acquired, and a forensic analysis was carried out. The investigation turned out films of child pornography, notably one from 2020 portraying sexual abuse of a prepubescent girl while she slept. Fontenot confirmed to police officers that he had made the video and sexually abused the woman.

The case was investigated by the United States Department of Homeland Security-Immigration and Customs Enforcement and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel J. Vermaelen.

These cases are part of Project Safe Childhood, a countrywide campaign led by the United States Department of Justice to tackle the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood, led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, combines federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. To learn more about Project Safe Childhood, go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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