LAFAYETTE, La. – A federal jury in Lafayette has found a former Abbeville resident, David Lee Fail, 43, guilty of transportation and possession of child pornography, announced Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook.
According to information presented in court, while living in Abbeville in 2021, Fail uploaded pornographic images of prepubescent children into a popular cloud-based storage platform account. The investigation into Fail’s illicit activities began in December 2021 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”) received a cybertip reporting that images depicting child sexual abuse material had been uploaded onto a cloud-based platform using a unique IP address.
Agents with the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“HSI”), investigated the case and learned that Fail had two previous convictions for similar child exploitation offenses.
Further investigation revealed that the online storage account was registered in Fail’s name in Abbeville and had recently been disabled. Agents learned that after the account was disabled, Fail left Abbeville and relocated to the Denver, Colorado area. Agents obtained search warrants for Fail’s accounts and found more than 150 images containing child sexual abuse material. Many of the images found depicted prepubescent females with adult males.
Fail faces a sentence of 40 years in prison as to the transportation of child pornography conviction, and 20 years in prison for the possession of child pornography conviction, in addition to a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing has been scheduled for December 9, 2025.
The case was investigated by Louisiana Bureau of Investigation and HSI and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Craig R. Bordelon and J. Luke Walker.