Eastern Panhandle man sentenced for sexual abuse of a minor

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Joseph Robert Paper, 32, of Ranson, West Virginia, was sentenced to 87 months in prison for traveling across state lines to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a teenage girl, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.

Paper transported a fourteen year old female from Pennsylvania to West Virginia where he had sexual contact with the victim.  The crimes occurred in January at a hotel in Berkeley County and at Paper’s home in Jefferson County.

Upon his release from prison, Paper will be supervised for a period of 40 years.  He must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn M. Adkins prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The West Virginia State Police and the Hanover, Pennsylvania Police Department investigated.

Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.