Weirton Resident Indicted on Child Pornography Charges

WHEELING, WV—A 40-year-old Weirton, West Virginia resident was named in an Indictment returned on August 3, 2009, by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Wheeling, West Virginia.

United States Attorney Sharon L. Potter announced that WAYNE CASTO was named in a two-count Indictment. Count One of the Indictment alleges that on April 20, 2009, in Weriton, CASTO knowingly possessed a computer disk and other material containing images of child pornography, that is visual depictions involving the use of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct that had been mailed and shipped and transported in interstate and foreign commerce via a computer. Count Two of the Indictment alleges that CASTO attempted to distribute child pornography from August 25, 2008, to April 20, 2009, in Weirton, and elsewhere.

If convicted, CASTO faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 on Count One of the Indictment; and a maximum penalty of five to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 on Count Two of the Indictment.

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randolph J. Bernard. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.

It should be noted that the charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and not evidence of guilt, and that each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.