Wayne County Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Crime

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – David Lee Pinson, 41, of Ceredo, pleaded guilty today to possession of prepubescent child pornography.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Pinson admitted to uploading several images and videos of child pornography to his Google Photos account on May 28, 2022, in Ceredo. One of the videos depicts a prepubescent boy and girl engaging in sexual intercourse and sexually explicit conduct.

Pinson further admitted to possessing six images and 332 videos of child pornography on a memory card on August 16, 2022, and to viewing the images using his cell phone. Pinson also admitted that 44 of the images and videos depict known child victims, and that some of the images depict infants and toddlers.

Pinson is scheduled to be sentenced on October 2, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Pinson is a registered sex offender as a result of his conviction for possession of child erotica in Wayne County Circuit Court on August 20, 2020.

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 Attorney Julie M. White is 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. 3:22-cr-173. 

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