Dwayne Dunlavy, Possession of Child Pornography, Louisiana 2012

ALEXANDRIA, La. – A 40-year-old man from Ohio has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography, according to a recent guilty plea.

Dwayne Dunlavy, of Ravenna, Ohio, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography before U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell on Thursday.

According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, investigators began looking for a suspect who was making child pornography available on file sharing networks in December 2011. One individual was found to be at an Alexandria hotel using the hotel’s Wi-Fi network to distribute child pornography. On March 5, 2012, Dunlavy was discovered in the hotel room. Law enforcement personnel searched his laptop and found images of child pornography.

Dunlavy faces 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, forfeiture, and a lifetime of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. A sentencing date of April 25, 2014, was set.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, Louisiana State Police, and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl M. Campbell is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) DHS-2ICE. Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp.

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