Canadian Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving Child Pornography in Jacksonville, Florida

Christian Yvon Lapierre (46, a Canadian citizen residing in Jacksonville) pled guilty in U.S. District Court today to receiving child pornography over the Internet. Lapierre faces a mandatory minimum sentence of at least five years and up to 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and a potential life term of supervised release.

According to court documents, an investigator with the Florida Attorney General’s Office conducted an undercover operation to identify individuals using the Internet to share child pornography. The investigator was able to identify an Internet protocol (IP) address located in Jacksonville that was sharing files depicting child pornography. Subpoenaed documents later revealed that the Internet service account for this IP address resolved to Lapierre’s Jacksonville residence.

On June 14, 2011, a federal search warrant was executed at Lapierre’s residence. Law enforcement officers seized two computers and other digital media. Lapierre was inside the residence when the search warrant was executed. During an interview, he admitted that he was the one who downloaded the files, using the particular software program, and that he had some videos showing kids, as well as some “teen stuff.” Lapierre admitted using particular terms to search for child pornography and that he downloaded videos which contained mostly girls and reaffirmed that he “would pretty much just look at them and then get rid of them.” Lapierre stated that he would get rid of the videos by deleting them into the computer’s recycling bin because he did not want them on his computer. He also stated that he started deleting the files when he heard the FBI knock and announce themselves at the door. Lapierre believed that one of the videos that he deleted depicted a child having sex with an adult.

Subsequent forensic analysis revealed that Lapierre’s computer media contained five videos and one image depicting child pornography.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the former Child Predator Cybercrime Unit of the Florida Attorney General’s Office, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

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 and for more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”