Kanawha County Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Crime

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Jerry Dewayne Carroll, 42, of Crown Hill, pleaded guilty today to possession of prepubescent child pornography.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on or about April 10, 2023, Carroll possessed at least 82 videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Carroll admitted that he uploaded the digital media files over the internet using his cell phone or a computer, and kept them in his encrypted cloud storage account held by Mega LTD. Carroll further admitted that the digital media files included videos depicting minors engaged in actual or simulated sexual intercourse and oral sex and the lascivious exhibition of the genitals and pubic areas of prepubescent minors.

Carroll is scheduled to be sentenced on June 18, 2024, and faces a penalty of 20 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Carroll must also register as a sex offender.

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).

United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorneys Holly Wilson and Josh Hanks are prosecuting the case.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and 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. 3:23-cr-122. 

###