A gymnastics coach at Kenner and Metairie businesses who secretly made videos of a 9-year-old girl changing clothing and later was found to have child pornography in his Kenner home has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Brian Townsend, 43, of Kenner, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (March 22), to 10 counts of possession of child pornography and 11 counts of video voyeurism. In addition to prison time, whenever released from custody, Townsend will have register as a sex offender and remain under supervision for the rest of his life.
The Kenner Police Department opened an investigation in July after learning from the Louisiana State Police that Townsend was sharing and downloading child pornography on the internet using peer-to-peer file sharing software, according to the arrest report.
Kenner and State Police, working with agents of the FBI New Orleans Division’s Violent Crimes Against Children/Human Trafficking Task Force, were able to remotely view videos of prepubescent girls engaging in sexual activity that were on Townsend’s computer. Task force members traced the computer to Townsend’s home on California Avenue in Kenner.
The police searched his home on Oct. 29, when Townsend disclosed he coached children’s gymnastics for about 30 years, according to the arrest report. Among the items police found were 13 videos of a 9-year-old girl whom he secretly recorded with the video camera on his cellular device, which he hid in a room where he sent the child to change her clothing, according to the report.
The Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office filed a bill of information in court on Jan. 1, charging Townsend with 10 counts of possession of child pornography and 11 counts of video voyeurism. The crimes happened between 2010 and 2015, according to the bill of information.
Judge Stephen Enright of the 24th Judicial District Court, who accepted the plea arrangement, sentenced Townsend to 25 years for each of the child pornography counts and 10 years for each of the video voyeurism counts. He ran the sentences concurrently.
Assistant District Attorney Angad Ghai prosecuted the case.
