A Rayne man was sentenced to 30 years in prison today on child pornography charges.
Joseph Emery Menard, 44, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release for receiving child pornography.
Menard pleaded guilty in May.
Evidence presented at that hearing and today revealed that law enforcement officers received information that the defendant was sexually abusing two young prepubescent children. In order to obtain evidence of that crime, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Menard’s residence.
During the search, they seized a computer. Investigators found more than 600 images of child pornography on the computer, some of which were of prepubescent children. Further investigation revealed that the images were downloaded from the internet and received by Menard on November 6, 11, and 12, 2018 and he knew that the images contained child pornography.
Menard was previously prosecuted in the 15th Judicial District Court; he pleaded guilty in 2000 to two counts molestation of a juvenile.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Luke Walker prosecuted the case.
