Former Bossier Parish deputy sentenced to 51 months in prison for possessing child pornography

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that James Goldman Grant, 67, of Benton, Louisiana, was sentenced Monday to four years and three months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. for possession of child pornography.  He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release and is required to register as a sex offender.

According to information presented in court, law enforcement agents discovered that James Grant’s friend, James Robert Wilson, 34, of Bossier City, Louisiana, had been downloading child pornography.  During a search of Wilson’s home on November 6, 2017, agents found more than 100 images of child pornography on electronic devices.  Wilson admitted to possessing and distributing images and videos of child pornography and also told the agents that he had met with James Grant, a retired Bossier Parish Sheriff’s deputy, at Grant’s home to view and exchange child pornography.  During a search of Grant’s home on November 6, 2017, agents discovered a thumb drive containing approximately 18 videos and 23 images of child pornography.  After his arrest, Grant admitted to meeting with Wilson at his home and admitted to downloading the child pornography to watch together with Wilson while he was there.  James Grant pleaded guilty on February 11, 2019.

James Robert Wilson pleaded guilty on December 11, 2018 for distributing child pornography, and he was sentenced on March 20, 2019 to 188 months in prison, five years of supervised release and is required to register as a sex offender.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) also encourage the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) 347-2423.  Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls.  Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online by visiting their website at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone application www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app.  Tips may be submitted anonymously.

The Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, and Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, Cyber Crime Unit, conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Aaron Crawford prosecuted the case.