A Metairie man, Kevin Lillis, age 51, was sentenced to 175 months in federal prison for distributing child sexual abuse material. The sentencing took place on July 30, 2025, before United States District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo. Lillis had previously pleaded guilty to the charge under Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(2). In addition to his prison term, Lillis received a sentence of 15 years of supervised release following imprisonment. He must also pay a $100 mandatory special assessment fee and register as a sex offender. A restitution hearing is scheduled for October 28, 2025.
Court documents indicate that the investigation began after a case referral based on evidence from an unrelated case. FBI agents executed a search warrant at Lillis’s residence in March 2024. During the search, they seized electronic devices containing files depicting the sexual abuse of children. Authorities found more than 600 images and six videos—one lasting about twelve minutes—showing child sexual victimization and other obscene visual representations involving children. Some files included images of newborn infants less than one day old depicted in sexually explicit conduct and images portraying sadistic or violent acts. Lillis distributed these files over several days between January and March 11, 2024.
Investigators also uncovered conversations between Lillis and other users on encrypted messaging apps. In messages dated November 19, 2023; December 20, 2023; February 5, 2024; and March 5, 2024; Lillis claimed he had engaged in hands-on sexual contact with multiple prepubescent minors as young as eight years old over the past twenty years. He sent sexually suggestive pictures he had taken of minors during some of these exchanges—including an image of an approximately eight-year-old girl that he distributed on March 5, 2024.
The prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood—a national initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat child exploitation and abuse online by coordinating efforts among federal, state, and local agencies (https://www.projectsafechildhood.gov/). The project aims to locate offenders who exploit children via the internet and rescue victims.
“U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter.” Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg led the prosecution.
