Monroe Man Sentenced to 20 Years

MONROE, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that Christopher Joe Stamper, 28, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty to 20 years in federal prison and 10 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography. Stamper is also required to register as a sex offender.

As part of his guilty plea on December 3, 2019, Stamper admitted that in November of 2018, he began communicating with an 11-year old girl from Washington on a mobile virtual reality gaming application called Avakin Life. On November 2, 2018, Stamper and the minor female moved their conversation to text messages. Stamper asked the minor to talk “sexually” with him and proceeded to engage in “role-playing” conversations that were sexually explicit in nature. Stamper asked to see her in various stages of undress and received multiple nude pictures of the 11-year old girl.

The FBI, Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Black Diamond Police Department, Black Diamond, Washington, conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica D. Cassidy and Earl M. Campbell prosecuted the case.

U.S. Attorney Joseph offers the following tips to help protect children online:

· Review and approve games and apps before they are downloaded.

· Make sure privacy settings are set to the strictest level possible for online gaming systems and electronic devices.

· Monitor your children’s use of the internet.

· Keep electronic devices in a common area of the house.

· Check your children’s profiles and what they post online.

· Explain to your children that images posted online will be permanently on the internet.

· Make sure that children understand online risks – only chat with people they know, block people they don’t know or trust. If anyone asks to engage in sexually explicit activity online, tell a parent, guardian, or other trusted adult about it.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. 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 exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the “resources” tab.

To report suspicious activity or instances of child sexual exploitation, contact your local law enforcement agency or submit tips through the following agencies:

· Leave a tip with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. Tips may be submitted anonymously.

· Submit a tip online at http://www.ice.gov/tipline, by phone at 866-DHS-2-ICE or by contacting your local HSI office.

· File a report with NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST or online at http://www.cybertipline.org.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at http://www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.