U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller announced several recent indictments in Acadiana, all involving child exploitation charges.
“The defendants charged in these cases span not only our 42-parish District but also the spectrum of predators that require our vigilance as law enforcement and as parents: people in positions of trust like teachers and National Guardsmen, recidivist sex offenders, people using AI to generate child pornography using our children’s faces or preying upon children they meet on video game platforms, and people paying others to abuse children at their instruction or transporting them across state lines to abuse them. Our message in prosecuting these cases and highlighting them here is simple: we as Louisianans, as parents, and as families have had enough of this awful abuse and are committed to seeing those who perpetrate these acts brought to justice.” Keller said. “We look forward to seeing justice done in these significant cases and to continuing our work alongside our federal and state partners to make our Louisiana community safe for our children.”
Among those listed is Christie Oster, 38, a former Broussard Middle Teacher of the Year, who was arrested in January and accused by Lafayette Police of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student. She was indicted on a charge of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity. Keller's release says she is accused of having maintained a sexual relationship with a minor victim during most of 2024. Prosecutors allege that Oster formed a sexual relationship with one of her eighth-grade students by meeting with her outside of school hours and using their cell phone communications not only to engage in sexual discussions but also to instruct the minor victim to do things like deleting text messages to avoid detection by the minor victim’s parents or others. Oster faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison if convicted.
Here are the other defendants, and the allegations prosecutors are making against them:
Luxe Arlen Thomas, 19 of Scott, was indicted for producing child pornography, interstate transportation of a minor to engage in sexual activity, and other CSAM-related crimes. Prosecutors allege that Thomas, who was a U.S. National Guardsman, engaged in a monthslong pattern of abuse against a minor girl whom he understood to have intellectual disabilities and to be in the foster system, with Thomas traveling to another state to engage in sexually explicit conduct with her and then transporting her back to Louisiana to do the same, producing and possessing images of sexually explicit conduct as he did so. Thomas faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to life in prison if convicted.
Rickey James Hebert, 66 of Abbeville, was indicted for conspiracy to produce child pornography, attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, and receipt of child pornography. As alleged, Hebert was paying a Filipina woman to create live videos of minor children being sexually abused and otherwise engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Hebert faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to life in prison.
Scott Nicholas Martel, 36 of Basile, was indicted for receiving and possessing CSAM. As alleged, Martel falsely portrayed himself online as having access to minors by using online names such as “BaileyMomof2daughters” to secure CSAM from other users in internet-based chat rooms. A search of Martel’s phone in February 2026 revealed a trove of CSAM he received in this way, as well as AI-generated pornographic materials involving Martel’s use of pictures available online of minor children living in his area. Martel faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Michael Roy Williams, 61 of Opelousas, was indicted in two separate cases, one charging him for possessing an explosive device and the other for possessing CSAM. These cases arose from St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives receiving information indicating that Williams possessed child pornography. After they obtained a search warrant for Williams’ smartphone, detectives then learned that Williams possessed an explosive device, which they recovered from his residence after securing another search warrant. Williams faces up to 10 years in prison for each charge.
Donald W. Bergeron, 42 of Broussard, was indicted on Distribution of Child Pornography, Receipt of Child Pornography, and Possession of Child Pornography. As alleged, Bergeron, who has a prior conviction for incest with a child, used social media messaging applications and cloud-based file storage services to send, receive, and save images of CSAM. Bergeron faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Cody Allen Bell, 34 of Carencro, was indicted for receiving and possessing CSAM. The investigation stems from a tip provided to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) by an encrypted messaged application, with the tip advising that someone attempted to upload CSAM to the messaging application. NCMEC forwarded the tip to the Louisiana Bureau of Investigations for further investigation, and detectives identified Bell as the individual utilizing the messaging application. Detectives executed search warrants on Bell’s account as well as a cloud-based storage account that he utilized and his cellular telephone and located CSAM in all locations. Bell faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
