Kanawha County Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Crime

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Billy Eggleston, 50, of St. Albans, pleaded guilty today to production of child pornography.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on March 26, 2020, Eggleston induced a prepubescent minor child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of photographing such conduct. Eggleston admitted to using his cell phone to take a series of 24 photos of him engaged in sexually explicit conduct with the minor. The sexually explicit photos were taken by Eggleston in his bedroom.

Eggleston transferred the images to his desktop computer. Eggleston admitted to possessing nearly 5,000 videos and images of child pornography on his desktop computer and a memory card on October 21, 2022. Eggleston further admitted that one of these images was of an adult male sexually assaulting a minor female between four and seven years old, and another image was of a minor female between two and four years old subjected to sexually explicit conduct by an adult male.

Eggleston is scheduled to be sentenced on August 3, 2023, and faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison, five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Eggleston must also register as a sex offender.

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the West Virginia State Police and the St. Albans Police Department, and the assistance provided by the Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) Children’s Advocacy Center.

United States District Judge Irene C. Berger presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Julie White is 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 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. 2:23-cr-3.

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