BLUEFIELD, W.Va. - United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced that a 50-year old Mercer County man, Charles Edward Lawrence, was sentenced today to six and half years in federal prison followed by ten years of supervised release for possessing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced. Today’s sentence was handed down by Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber in Bluefield.
Lawrence previously admitted that on Oct. 10, 2013, he possessed videos depicting prepubescent minors having sex or performing sexual acts. The investigation revealed that Lawrence kept the videos of the children on a USB flash drive discovered during the execution of a search warrant at his home.
“We will not tolerate child exploitation in our communities. Folks who engage in this kind of deviant behavior are on notice that we will use every available law enforcement tool to identify and prosecute them," Goodwin said.
The West Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston was in charge of the prosecution.
This case is being brought as part of U.S. Attorney Goodwin’s ongoing initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse in the Southern District of West Virginia.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
