Federal Grand Jury Indicts Former Stm Youth Minister on Child Sex Abuse Charges

By Nicholas Persac
The Advertiser
January 27, 2012

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A federal grand jury indicted this week a former Lafayette youth minister who allegedly posed as a 14-year-old girl on the Internet to swindle nude photographs from boys.

Eric Michael Manuel, 22, of Lafayette, is a former youth minister at St. Thomas More High School, and he currently owns Half Black Media. Manuel is now charged in a 20-count indictment with 18 counts of production of child pornography and two counts of using a facility in interstate commerce to persuade a minor to engage in criminal sexual acts, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley's office.

For the production of child pornography charge, Manuel faces between 15 and 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted, Finley said in the release. If convicted of using a facility in interstate commerce to persuade a minor to engage in criminal sexual acts, Manuel faces between 10 years and life in prison.

Finley said an indictment is "merely an accusation" and noted that Manuel is "presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty."

According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court, FBI agents claim Manuel was "Facebook friends" with nearly 150 teens. The FBI said he posed as a 14-year-old girl on the social media site to gain access to boys.

These allegations were first brought to light Dec. 28, just a day after Manuel was arrested by Kaplan Police Department officers on charges of carnal knowledge of a juvenile.

On Dec. 27, the mother of a 15-year-old boy filed a complaint with the KPD, claiming Manuel, a youth ministry volunteer with the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette, had performed a sexual act on her son on two separate occasions.

After interviewing the teen, police said they used the juvenile's cell phone to text message Manuel to arrange a meeting. The complaint said Manuel agreed to meet at a Kaplan business, and he was arrested at the scene and charged with carnal knowledge of a juvenile.

On Dec. 28, detectives were granted a search warrant for Manuel's cell phone, where they allegedly found more than 1,000 images of teenage boys exposing themselves. The case, because of jurisdictional issues, was then turned over to the Louisiana State Police, and a search of Manuel's computer led troopers to discover his alternate persona.

The complaint said Manuel created a Facebook profile that depicted himself as a 14-year-old girl named "Emily," who befriended male teens. Initially, the complaint said, "Emily" would send a friend request to the boys, but, after getting their cell phone numbers, Manuel, still posing as "Emily," began to send and ask for explicit images of the four boys named in the FBI complaint.

According to the complaint, the four victims "sexted" and shared nude images with Manuel, including videos of the boys performing sexual acts. Once the conversations began, the complaint said, Manuel would threaten the boys if they did not sent nude images.

It was from that initial complaint that officers discovered Manuel was allegedly using Facebook to contact teenage boys, posing as a teenage girl.

On Jan. 13, Manuel appeared in the U.S. District Court in Lafayette, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Hill approved a motion made by the defense, which asked for the court to waive both a preliminary hearing and detention hearing for the case. He will now remain in custody until trial,

Finley said the FBI, the Lafayette Resident Agency, Louisiana State Police and the Lafayette Police Department are all investigating the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney John Walker is prosecuting the case.