Robert Swan, Child Exploitation, Louisiana 2023

A Ponchatoula man has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in sexually exploiting children, including receiving images depicting the sexual victimization of minors. Robert Swan, 53, received the sentence after pleading guilty to the charges.

According to court documents, investigators with the State of Louisiana Department of Justice – Cyber Crime Unit executed a search warrant on Swan’s residence on January 30, 2013. The search was based on evidence obtained by law enforcement that between November 30, 2012, and December 1, 2012, Swan distributed videos depicting the sexual victimization of children between the ages of two and ten.

Agents seized fifteen separate digital devices, including two computers and thirteen digital storage drives. While reviewing materials seized in the search, agents found digital evidence that in about January 2010, Swan and his associate, Thomas Middleton, forced a then-three-year-old girl to engage in sexually explicit conduct, which Swan recorded.

Additionally, agents found that between May 2010 and January 2013, Swan had downloaded, saved, and catalogued over 500,000 images and videos – one of the largest collections of child pornography found in the State of Louisiana – depicting children as young as four-weeks old being forced to engage in sexually explicit conduct.

Because of Swan’s prior conviction in 1987 for lewd and lascivious assault of a minor in Escambia County, Florida, Swan faced an enhanced sentence.

Swan was sentenced to 327 months imprisonment, followed by supervised release for life, and a $100 special assessment. He is also required to register as a sex offender pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Notification Act.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite praised the work of the State of Louisiana Department of Justice – Cyber Crime Unit in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg was in charge of the prosecution.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edla/pr/ponchatoula-man-sentenced-27-years-prison-after-pleading-guilty-sexually-exploiting