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Rayne man with history of child sexual abuse sentenced to 30 years for child porn possession

The Advocate - 11/5/2020

Nov. 5--A Rayne man was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography on Wednesday.

Joseph Emery Menard, 44, was sentenced to 30 years followed by 15 years of supervised release after pleading guilty in May to a count of receiving child pornography. The charge stemmed from a December 2018 investigation into allegations Menard, who has a history of child sexual abuse, was sexually abusing two prepubescent children, a statement from the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana said.

Investigators seized a computer while executing a search warrant at Menard's home and found 600 images of child pornography, including some of prepubescent children, that were downloaded from the internet between Nov. 6-12, 2018. Prosecutors said Menard knew the files contained child pornography when he downloaded them, the release said.

In 2000, Menard pleaded guilty to two counts of molestation of a juvenile in the 15th Judicial District in Lafayette for sexually abusing a prepubescent child. He also pleaded guilty in 2004 for failure to register as a sex offender and in 2015 for failure to record a change of address with local law enforcement, court records show.

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