LAFAYETTE, LA. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Louisiana, Western), published as received.

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that Gregory Graffeo Jr., 25, of Lafayette, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Robert R. Summerhays, to 63 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for possession of child pornography. Hall pleaded guilty on August 13, 2019.

According to court documents, this case originated on August 31, 2018, as a cyber-tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation (LBI), reporting that a Tumblr user had uploaded images of child pornography. A search warrant on Graffeo’s Tumblr account revealed approximately 50 images of child pornography. On November 7, 2018, agents with Homeland Security Investigations and LBI executed a search warrant at Graffeo’s residence and found additional child pornography images on devices belonging to him.  Graffeo admitted to possessing more than 100 images of child pornography on these devices and admitted that the Tumblr account belonged exclusively to him. 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations and Louisiana Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. McCoy prosecuted the case.

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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, as well as 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.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) also encourage the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) 347-2423. Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online by visiting their website at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone application www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app. Tips may be submitted anonymously.

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