By LEONARD GRAY

Managing Editor

HAHNVILLE — A 61-year-old Luling man entered a guilty plea Thursday on 90 counts of possession of child pornography and one count of molestation of a juvenile.

Grover G. Cornwell received a 10-year sentence to state prison, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence for the pornography charges and an additional consecutive eight years on the molestation charge. The eight-year sentence was suspended, as part of the plea agreement, but he will be on five years of active probation, upon release, and must register as a sex offender.

Cornwell, was originally arrested by the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office on 21 counts of possession of child pornography. Further examination of his computer and CDs turned up additional images.

Cornwell was arrested after a Feb. 16, 2005 search warrant was executed on his home computer’s data.

He was already in custody for other charges, and the warrant developed out of that investigation, according to Capt. Patrick Yoes, spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

This data was turned over to the Louisiana Attorney General’s High Technology Crime Unit for forensic analysis.

The initial analysis of his computer determined there were 20,000 images of children, of which 21 were defined as pornographic.

District Attorney Harry J. Morel Jr. commented as to

the guilty plea: &#8220I want the message sent that my office has instituted a zero-tolerance policy for this type of crime. The people of St. Charles Parish must know that my office will prosecute each of these cases to the fullest extent of the law.”

Case prosecutor Kim McElwee said Cornwill will probably serve the entire sentence. &#8220He’s almost 62; he’ll be 72 when he gets out.” She also praised the efforts of Detective Joey Thibodeaux’s vigilant investigation of the molestation charge. ‘If that detective hadn’t done such a good job, we wouldn’t have had a case,” she said.

Thibodeaux also worked with Assistant Attorney General Toby Aguillard, Investigator Orie Hunter and Investigator Mike Johnson on the pornography charges.

Sheriff Greg C. Champagne noted in a press release at the time of Cornwell’s arrest, &#8220it is disturbing how we find this activity in places where we least expect it. The Internet allows this activity to be more accessible throughout the world, and we must be more vigilant in protecting those who can’t protect themselves.”

Attorney-General Charles Foti commented in the same press release, &#8220 We will continue to work with any and all law enforcement personnel who need our help to fight the growing problem of child pornography on the internet. Our goal is to stop those who would victimize our children or place them in harm’s way.”

Cornwell is due to report April 24 to start his sentence.