Kanawha County Man Sentenced to Three Years in Federal Prison for Possessing Child Pornography

CHARLESTON, WV—“We’ve taken another pedophile off the streets. He is now on his way to prison,” U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today in the wake of a Kanawha County man’s federal sentencing on child pornography charges. Tracey E. Cooper, 38, of Giles, Kanawha County, West Virginia, was sentenced today to three years in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release. The sentence was handed down today by United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. Cooper previously pleaded guilty in January.

Cooper collected more than 600 pictures and videos of children having sex or performing sexual acts. The child pornography was found on Cooper’s computer after he downloaded it from the Internet. Cooper used the peer-to-peer file sharing programs Shareaza and Aires to download, receive, and share child pornography. Cooper possessed more than 600 images of child pornography and traded the images with other pedophiles over the Internet.

“This kind of crime is downright sickening,” Goodwin said. “Behind every piece of child pornography traded over the Internet, there is a child somewhere who has been exploited in the most heinous way imaginable. People who download and share these pictures encourage that exploitation. My office will continue to be relentless in prosecuting these cases.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s West Virginia Cyber Crimes Task Force, the Kanawha Bureau of Investigation, and the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Lisa Johnston handled the prosecution.

Cooper entered into a stipulation agreeing to pay $10,000 in restitution to a known victim in the case.

This case was prosecuted as part of U.S. Attorney Goodwin’s ongoing initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse in the Southern District of West Virginia. Since January 2012, 22 defendants have been convicted as part of U.S. Attorney Goodwin’s ongoing initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse in the Southern District of West Virginia. Seventeen defendants have been sentenced to a total of more than 58 years (987 months, to be exact) in federal prison. The remaining five defendants currently await sentencing.