Charleston Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Crime

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Timothy Blake Parsons, 54, of Charleston, pleaded guilty today to possession of prepubescent child pornography.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on November 2, 2022, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Parsons’ residence and seized several electronic devices including Parsons’ cell phone. A forensic analysis of Parsons’ cell phone and cloud backup revealed an extensive history of searching for and viewing child pornography. Over 1,000 images and a video of child pornography were identified. Some of these images depict prepubescent minors, including toddlers, subjected to sexually explicit conduct, as well as bestiality. One image depicts an adult male sexually assaulting a prepubescent minor female.

Parsons is scheduled to be sentenced on September 21, 2023, and faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison, five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Chief United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorneys Julie M. White and Holly Wilson are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought 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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.justice.gov/psc.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:22-cr-230. 

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