Louisiana Man Sentenced to 20 Years After Admitting to Persuading a Minor to Send Him Pornographic Photos and Videos

Louisiana - On September 19, 2022, United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. announced that U.S. Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick sentenced Richard Culver, age 41, of Denham Springs, Louisiana, to 240 months (20 years) in federal prison following his conviction for receipt of child pornography. Following his term of imprisonment, Culver will have to serve six years of supervised release and register as a sex offender for life. Chief Judge Dick also ordered Culver to pay restitution to his victims in the amount of $126,000.

According to confessions made at his plea, Culver posed as a 13-year-old girl and spoke with a 9-year-old girl via a social networking application from June 6, 2019, to June 8, 2019. During those interactions, Culver transmitted at least 15 images of child pornography to the juvenile victim and asked her to take and submit comparable photographs of herself to him. Culver persuaded the minor victim to send him photographs and videos of the minor victim engaging in sexually explicit behavior.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Louisiana State Police investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jamie A. Flowers, Jr., who also serves as Chief of the Criminal Division.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide campaign launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to tackle the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood, led by US Attorneys' Offices and CEOs, marshals federal, state, and local resources to better detect, capture, and punish persons who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. Please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc for more information about Project Safe Childhood.