Summersville Man Sentenced to Prison on Child Pornography Charge

CHARLESTON, WV—Aaron Shane Ballew, 33, of Summersville, Nicholas County, West Virginia, was sentenced to 10 years in prison yesterday by United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston for possession of child pornography. Ballew pleaded guilty in September 2010, to the offense. On December 30, 2008, from a computer in his Summersville home, Ballew admitted to distributing more than 600 images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, that is, actual or simulated sexual intercourse and the lascivious exhibition of the genitals and pubic area of the minors. The defendant admitted to using a peer-to-peer file sharing program to distribute the explicit images to an undercover agent working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) in Maryland. On March 1, 2010, the FBI executed a search warrant on Ballew’s Nicholas County home that revealed thousands of explicit images and videos of children on his personal computer. Ballew further admitted that he knew the images and videos constituted child pornography. The images and videos possessed by Ballew had also been shipped and transported in interstate and foreign commerce by means that included a computer.

United States Attorney Booth Goodwin stated, “Any crime that involves the sexual exploitation of a child is sickening and should not be tolerated. Fighting crimes against children will always be a top priority of my office and we will continue to work in conjunction with our law enforcement partners at every level, to ensure that offenders are held accountable and punished for this type of conduct.”

During sentencing, the court noted that possession of children pornography is not a victimless crime, as children who are victims of child pornography often need extensive counseling to address the psychological damage. With respect to the chat logs found on Mr. Ballew’s computer, Judge Johnston noted that these logs represented “unguarded moments that were very detailed and very disturbing.” As part of his sentence, the court recommended that Mr. Ballew be evaluated for participation in a sex offender psychological program within the Bureau of Prisons.

The investigation for this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Ryan handled the prosecution.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about cases and related activities please visit www.usdoj.gov/usao/wvs and www.projectsafechildhood.gov.