Registered Sex Offender From West Virginia Indicted On Child Pornography Charges

NASHVILLE – A registered sex offender from Morgantown, West Virginia was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Nashville Wednesday, on charges of attempting to produce child pornography and attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor through interstate commerce, announced U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee. 

Shaun J. Sanders, 44, was indicted in November 2022 by a federal grand jury in Nashville, after using a messaging app to contact whom he believed was a 13-year-old female but was in fact an undercover FBI agent.  During the online conversation, which occurred in July 2022, Sanders sent obscene photos and videos, including photos of himself clothed and unclothed, and requested the purported minor female send him obscene photos of her.

Sanders was arrested in West Virginia in December and was recently transported to the Middle District of Tennessee for further proceedings.  If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and an additional 10 years in prison for committing these offenses as a registered sex offender. 

This case was investigated by the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica Morrison is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an accusation.  The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 

# # # # #