Beau Thomas Shores, a 42-year-old resident of Bunker Hill, West Virginia, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography. The sentence was handed down in Martinsburg, West Virginia.
Court documents revealed that Shores accessed child pornography on the internet using his cell phone. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported this activity to law enforcement. A subsequent search of Shores' residence uncovered thousands of images and videos depicting child pornography, some involving children as young as three years old.
In addition to his prison term, Shores has been fined $64,500 and will be subject to 30 years of supervised release after serving his sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberley Crockett prosecuted the case for the government. The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Ranson Police Department under the West Virginia Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. This project aims to use federal, state, and local resources to locate and prosecute individuals who exploit children online while also identifying and rescuing victims.
U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided over the proceedings.
