A Lafayette Man Pleads Guilty To Knowingly Receiving Child Porn On His Computer

The United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, Stephanie Finley, says that 55-year-old Mark Anthony Slade of Lafayette pleaded guilty Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to knowingly receiving child pornography on his computer.

Finley's office reports that local and federal law enforcement used computer surveillance software to find out that Slade was downloading child porn.

Prosecutors allege that he used the internet file sharing program Limewire to download the child pornography.

Investigators obtained a search warrant, and they searched his home on October 29th, 2010.  They seized his computers.  They say the man downloaded 10 child pornography movies including some that depicted prepubescent children.

Slade faces up to 20 year in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release.  His sentencing is set for September 13, 2013.

Federal prosecutors says the Lafayette Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security conducted the investigation.

Prosecutors says this case is part of the Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.  They aim to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, you can visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.