Port Barre Man Pleads Guilty to Transportation of a Minor with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that Cory Shane Disotell, 48, of Port Barre, Louisiana, appeared before U.S. District Judge Robert R. Summerhays today and pled guilty to transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

According to facts presented during today’s plea, Disotell devised a plan to coerce a 15-year old Port Barre minor to leave school and run away with him. On March 28, 2019, the defendant traveled to the school where the minor was a student and convinced the child to leave with him.  He then transported her to Mississippi, and thereafter to Durango, Colorado, where he was apprehended after an extensive nationwide manhunt. At the time of his arrest, the defendant admitted he took the child from Port Barre, Louisiana, to Mississippi, and ultimately to Durango, Colorado, engaging in sexual acts along the way.

At sentencing Disotell faces 10 years to life in prison, five years to life of supervised release, mandatory registration as a sex offender, a fine of up to $250,000, and forfeiture of a Braztech S41118 .410 caliber shotgun seized at the time of his arrest in Colorado.  Judge Summerhays set sentencing for January 10, 2020.

The FBI, U.S. Marshal’s Service, Port Barre Police Department, Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office, and Durango, Colorado Police Department conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney John Luke Walker and Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Myers P. Namie are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”