Man pleads guilty to charges of pornography

A 32-year-old Slidell man pleaded guilty Wednesday to possessing 9,000 images of child pornography, some of victims younger than 12, federal authorities said.

Agegnehu Tsega of Wellington Lane entered the plea in federal court after he was indicted in June by a federal grand jury.

He faces up to 10 years in prison, a lifetime of supervision and a $250,000 fine when sentenced Jan. 7 by U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial.

Immigration authorities noticed the images on Tsega’s computer when he consented to a search of his Slidell area home in 2005. Officials with Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement recovered computers, DVDs and CDs from his home, and later through a forensic examination found Internet searches for “kinderkutje,” “Hard Lolitas,” “youngvideomodels” and “tinymodel.”

U.S. Attorney General Jim Letten said he admitted to downloading images since 2003, using a VISA debit card to purchase the pictures.

“According to Tsega, he became sexually aroused by child pornography, was addicted to it and would view sexually explicit images of children weekly,” Letten’s office wrote in a bill of information.