2 Acadiana Men Sentenced in Child Sexual Abuse Materials Cases

LAFAYETTE, La. — Two Acadiana men are headed to federal prison after separate child pornography cases: an Abbeville man caught after his wife found a hidden recording device in their bathroom ceiling, and a Broussard man whose Google account drew a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks sentenced 54-year-old Christopher Michael Ahlers of Abbeville to 30 years in federal prison on September 10, followed by 10 years of supervised release, after Ahlers pleaded guilty in May to production of child pornography. On the same day, Hicks sentenced 52-year-old Shannon David Miller of Broussard to just over eight years in prison, also followed by 10 years of supervised release, after Miller pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller said his office will keep pursuing these cases regardless of where the predators are hiding, adding that “we will never relent.”

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How the Abbeville Case Came Together

The Ahlers case started in Vermilion Parish in May 2025, when his wife discovered a hidden recording device in a bathroom ceiling at their home and contacted the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office. The device held multiple recordings of her two minor children. Deputies arrested Ahlers on related state charges days later.

After he was released on bond, investigators say Ahlers tried to hide additional evidence by asking an acquaintance to hold onto an external hard drive for him. That acquaintance instead turned the drive over to law enforcement. On it, investigators found roughly 90 illicit videos involving one of Ahlers’s minor stepchildren. Evidence showed he had kept the footage for several years.

How the Broussard Case Surfaced

Miller’s case moved through a different pipeline. Federal authorities were alerted in October 2025 after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children flagged a cybertip tied to a Google account suspected of holding and distributing illegal material. Homeland Security Investigations and the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation traced the account to Miller.

Agents reviewing two videos named in the tip confirmed illicit content, then obtained a warrant to search Miller’s residence and seize his devices. Forensic examiners later identified more than 1,000 graphic videos involving prepubescent children, and Miller admitted he had been accessing illegal material for about 20 years, amassing roughly 100 gigabytes of files across several devices.

Who Worked the Cases

Homeland Security Investigations, the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation and the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Bordelon prosecuted both cases with help from legal assistant Tanya Broussard.

Both prosecutions fall under Project Safe Childhood, the Justice Department’s nationwide effort, running since 2006, to identify and prosecute people who exploit children online and to find and help victims.

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