NEW ORLEANS — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)), published as received.

NEW ORLEANS – DOMINIC ROMANO, age 22, a resident of Luling, Louisiana, was sentenced, March 30, 2023, by United States District Judge Barry W. Ashe to 60 months in prison after  previously pleading guilty to a one-count indictment charging him with possession of images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children under the age of twelve years old, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 2252(a)(4)(B), announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.   Additionally, Judge Ashe ordered ROMANO to serve a 10-year period of supervised release and pay a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.  Judge Ashe scheduled a hearing on July 6, 2023 to determine the amount of restitution ROMANO must pay to the victims of his offense. 

According to court documents, the Federal Bureau of Investigation received a tip from another law enforcement agency that an individual, subsequently determined to be ROMANO, accessed an online bulletin board having an explicit focus on the advertisement, distribution, and facilitation of sharing child abuse material.  The bulletin board contained sections and forums cataloged by the age of the victims and the nature of the violence inflicting on them.

The FBI executed a search warrant on ROMANO’s residence on May 7, 2020.  A forensic review of the evidence revealed that ROMANO knowingly used several of the electronic devices seized during the execution of the search warrant to search for, download, and save images and videos of child sexual abuse material.  In total, ROMANO’s seized devices contained at least 2589 image and 62 videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children, including children less than three years old.  Among ROMANO’s collection was a digital presentation that purported to be an instruction manual on how to successfully victimize “very young girls” without being caught. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter.  Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the Public Integrity Unit,  is in charge of the prosecution.