Louisiana Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Accessing a Website on the “Dark Web” with Intent to View Child Pornography

Published September 25, 2019

From the Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office Western District of Louisiana – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that Paul Andrew Talley, 51, of Coushatta, Louisiana, was sentenced September 18, 2019, by Chief U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. to 10 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for accessing the internet with the intent to view child pornography. Talley is also required to register as a sex offender.

According to documents presented at Talley’s guilty plea hearing on April 11, 2019, law enforcement agents identified Talley’s computer as accessing a “Dark Web” child porn site and being a regular user. Forensic analysis on the computer equipment seized from Talley’s home on August 20, 2015, revealed more than 2,300 images of child pornography. The images found on the computer matched the images from the “Dark Web” site.

The Dark Web, also called the DarkNet, is a collection of underground marketplaces where websites selling illegal content design their sites to hide identities of users and evade law enforcement detection. For more information, visit www.fbi.gov/news/stories/a-primer-on-darknet-marketplaces.

This 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, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Those concerned may leave tips with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. Tips may be submitted anonymously. The Shreveport FBI office number is (318) 861-1890.

The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth D. Reeg prosecuted the case.