William S. Thompson U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia
Terry Randall Hinkle, a 56-year-old resident of Delbarton, West Virginia, has been sentenced to ten years in prison for receiving child pornography. Following his release, Hinkle will be subject to ten years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender.
Court documents revealed that on August 30, 2023, Hinkle received several images depicting child pornography through Facebook. He admitted the images included depictions of nude prepubescent females with their legs spread. Additionally, Hinkle confessed to possessing approximately 24 videos and 46 images of child pornography. On September 25, 2023, he sent an image of a nude minor female with her legs spread via Facebook to another user.
Hinkle attempted to solicit another individual online to produce and send him images of minors in that individual's custody; however, no photos were sent.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Will Thompson, who praised the investigative efforts of the West Virginia State Police-Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative led by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse. This initiative combines federal, state, and local resources to apprehend and prosecute offenders while rescuing victims.
Further information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.
