Kentucky substitute teacher charged with child pornography offenses

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A substitute teacher was charged Thursday in a criminal complaint with possessing and distributing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John E. Kuhn Jr., Western District of Kentucky.

These charges resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Canadian authorities, the Bowling Green Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Leon Lussier, 49, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, was arrested Sept. 1 and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Brent Brennenstuhl the same day. Lussier was employed by the Bowling Green Independent School District as a substitute teacher.

According to an affidavit attached to the criminal complaint, the international investigation started in January when the Toronto (Canada) Police Service’s Child Exploitation Section received information regarding the investigation of a group of individuals involved in sexually abusing children, including distributing child pornography. On June 23, a Toronto Police Service Detective Constable logged into an undercover software account and observed that a person with the username “I luv boys” was streaming child pornography videos by sharing his computer screen. The user streamed four videos containing child pornography.  Further investigation led law enforcement to Lussier as the person with the username “I luv boys.”

A search warrant of Lussier’s Bowling Green home resulted in seizing numerous computer media. A computer forensics preview of an HP Pavilion computer revealed several videos containing child pornography, including some videos that had been previously viewed in a chatroom by an undercover officer.  The videos were being live-streamed on a computer with an Internet Protocol address assigned to Lussier.

If convicted at trial, Lussier faces a minimum of five years and up to 25 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, and up to a lifetime of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jo E. Lawless, Western District of Kentucky, is prosecuting this case.

Members of the public are reminded that the charge of a person by a criminal complaints is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,300 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page. HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.