Prairieville man arrested on 40 counts of child pornography

ASCENSION PARISH — A Prairieville man has been arrested with 40 counts of child pornography following a years-long investigation. He was arrested on May 18 after an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office’s Cyber Crime Unit and housed in the Ascension Parish jail.

Cody Poirrier, 30, was arrested after Yahoo reported an email account linked to him, shared over 70 files considered to be child sexual abuse material, according to arrest documents.

Explicit videos involving children

The investigation into Poirrier’s alleged misconduct began around December 31, 2021. Yahoo reported emails to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children after multiple emails were sent from the email account that investigators traced back to Poirrier using his IP address and cell phone number, the documents stated.

Investigators allege that many of the files Poirrier sent to himself included explicit videos and photos with a child being raped, young children wearing “bondage-type clothing” and young children appearing “to be in obvious pain”.

Investigators say some of the emails Poirrier sent were duplicates, others were considered child erotica. Child erotica can include photos of children dressed and posing in a lewd or provocative manner but their genitalia is not visible and does not meet the statutory criteria for pornography involving children, investigators said.

Linking the emails

There were 43 unique files investigators say were child sexual abuse materials.

Investigators say Poirrier used the alias “Josh Leblanc” when registering his Yahoo account. The internet search company provided investigators with the verified phone number used to set up the account. A subpoena served to AT&T confirmed the number was connected to Poirrier, investigators said.

Investigators also used the IP address and traced it back to Poirrier’s address and to a family construction company on Hwy. 30 in Gonzales.

Investigators say Poirrier was arrested on the child pornography case without incident. He’s charged with 40 counts of pornography involving juveniles.

His bond was set at $200,000 at $5,000 per count.

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