Chinese Graduate Student Pleads Guilty to Receiving Child Sexual Abuse Material

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle announced today that Chinese national, JIAXIN TIAN(“TIAN”) , age 29, of New Orleans, pled guilty on July 30, 2026, for Receipt of Materials Involving the Sexual Exploitation of Minors, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2252(a)(2) and (b)(1). TIAN faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five (5) years and a maximum sentence of twenty (20) years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, a term of supervised release of no less than five (5) years and up to life, and a $100.00 mandatory special assessment fee. The case against TIAN began with an undercover online investigation initiated by the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Office (“PRCSO”) when they were searching for individuals sharing Child Sex Abuse Material (“CSAM”) on the internet. The PRCSO investigation led them to a subject in New Orleans resulting in the PRCSO notifying the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation (“LBI”) of their findings. According to court documents, on December 12, 2025, agents with the LBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“HSI”) executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence in New Orleans. During the search, agents recovered an MSI laptop computer, Apple I-Phone, Huawei cell phone, and various other electronic storage devices, in TIAN’s bedroom. TIAN admitted to the agents that he had downloaded images and videos of prepubescent CSAM. Thereafter, LBI and HSI located images and videos depicting the victimization of children on TIAN’s computer. Although TIAN was initially arrested on state child pornography charges, through a partnership between state and federal authorities, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is now prosecuting TIAN federally. TIAN will remain in federal custody until he is sentenced on November 19, 2026 before United States District Judge Anna St. John. U.S. Attorney Courcelle praised the work of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, and the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Office. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.