U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that DON FRANCIS, JR., age 46, of Metairie, was sentenced today after previously pleading guilty to crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.
U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance sentenced FRANCIS to serve 15 years imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release. FRANCIS was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $8,000 and he will be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration Notification Act.
According to court records, on February 5, 2014, Special Agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) assisted the Louisiana Department of Justice and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office with the execution of a search warrant at FRANCIS’s residence in Metairie. HSI computer forensic agents located 5,378 images and 362 videos depicting the sexual victimization of children (some of whom were infants) on FRANCIS’s computer.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
United States Attorney Polite praised the work of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security-HSI, the Louisiana Department of Justice, and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in investigating this matter. Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Fraud Unit Chief, Assistant U. S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba was in charge of the prosecution.