LOUISIANA
The Advertiser
Written by
Nicholas Persac
A federal grand jury indicted this week a former Lafayette youth minister who allegedly posed as a 14-year-old girl on the Internet to swindle nude photographs from boys.
Eric Michael Manuel, 22, of Lafayette, is a former youth minister at St. Thomas More High School, and he currently owns Half Black Media. Manuel is now charged in a 20-count indictment with 18 counts of production of child pornography and two counts of using a facility in interstate commerce to persuade a minor to engage in criminal sexual acts, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley’s office.
For the production of child pornography charge, Manuel faces between 15 and 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted, Finley said in the release. If convicted of using a facility in interstate commerce to persuade a minor to engage in criminal sexual acts, Manuel faces between 10 years and life in prison.
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