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April 3, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Reynoldsville Resident Enters Plea to
Child Pornography Charge

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - A 47-year old Reynoldsville, West Virginia, resident entered a plea of guilty on April 2, 2012, in United States District Court in Clarksburg before Magistrate Judge John S. Kaull.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that: GORDON MAYS, JR. entered a plea of guilty to one count of Accessing with Intent to View Child Pornography via his computer and the internet on October 30, 2010, in Reynoldsville. MAYS, who is on release pending sentencing, faces a maximum exposure of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David J. Perri and was investigated by the West Virginia State Police Crimes Against Children Unit.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.