Lobbyist claims that child porn charge was filed to make him cooperate with FBI corruption probe
A Louisiana lawyer charged with one count of child pornography possession and distribution says that he’s being singled out for prosecution because the FBI wanted his cooperation in a different investigation.
Christopher Young, 53, of Baton Rouge reportedly sent friends, family and clients unsolicited videos of boys having sexual activities with donkeys, the Advocate reports. Young says that he didn’t realize that they were illegal, because he didn’t know that the boys featured were minors. He called the 2013 and 2015 messages a “crude joke.”
At the time of his arrest, Young was a lobbyist for the Beer Industry League of Louisiana. On Thursday, he testified that the FBI told him they would not pursue the child pornography charges if he cooperated with the government on public corruption investigations. Young was friends with the commissioner of the state Alcohol and Tobacco Control office, and the FBI was conducting a now-closed investigation of the agency.
Young has filed a motion to dismiss based on a selective prosecution argument, the Advocate reports. If convicted, he faces a federal sentence of up to five years.
Stephen Soli, an FBI agent who seized Young’s cellphone, testified that he doesn’t consider the lawyer to be a child pornographer in the traditional sense, but that regardless of that, being in possession of and forwarding the videos violated federal law.
Young’s phone was confiscated by the FBI in August 2015, outside a Baton Rouge restaurant. Young testified Thursday that he consented to a search of his device because he didn’t think he had anything to hide.
