1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Fawn E. Thomas, Public Affairs Specialist

 

June 8, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Valley Grove Resident Indicted on
Child Pornography Charges

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA — A 45 year old Valley Grove, West Virginia, resident was named in an Indictment returned on June 2, 2009, by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Wheeling, West Virginia.

United States Attorney Sharon L. Potter announced that GARY RAY DEBOLT was named in a nine-count Indictment. Counts One through Eight of the Indictment allege that DEBOLT attempted distribution of child pornography via the computer on eight occasions from October 22, 2008, to January 4, 2009, in Valley Grove, Ohio County, West Virginia. Count Nine of the Indictment alleges that DEBOLT knowingly possessed a computer disk and other material containing images of child pornography on January 6, 2009, in Valley Grove.

If convicted, DEBOLT faces a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 each on Counts One through Eight of the Indictment; and a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 on Count Nine of the Indictment.

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David J. Perri. The case was investigated by the West Virginia State Police - Bureau of Criminal Investigations.

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.