A 50-year-old attorney who pleaded guilty to a sexually motivated misdemeanor last week attempted to pay to have sex with a minor, according to an investigation report.
Michael Sharley was sentenced to six months of jail, suspended for probation, given a $50 fine and ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years on the charge of contributing to the delinquency of minors. The state also agreed to not prosecute any other crimes found as a result of Detective J. Wilhelm’s investigation.
As of Tuesday, Sharley was not registered with the West Virginia State Police, according to Cpl. T.W. Goodnight.
On Jan. 15, 2018, a Tunnelton man called the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department because Sharley contacted him on Facebook Messenger, said he was sexually interested in girls aged 12-14 and asked the complainant to find a juvenile girl for him to have sex with, according to the investigation report.
Wilhelm and Lt. W. Tennant traveled to Tunnelton and spoke with the complainant and his wife.
The complainant said he was talking with Sharley on Facebook when Sharley offended him by asking who the young girl was in the photograph he posted. The girl was the complainant’s daughter and the man told Sharley he was offended, the investigation report said.
The complainant told Sharley he was willing to find him a “whore,” but a juvenile was over the line. His wife said she also communicated with Sharley on Facebook Messenger — during one session he sent a picture of his genitals — but she did not have the conversations on her phone anymore, the report said.
While the two deputies were meeting with the complainants, Sharley messaged them again. The deputies directed the complainant’s wife how to respond, the report said.
Sharley asked the complainants to find him a pre-teen girl to have sex with and offered up to $100, the report said. He wanted to meet at his law office in Westover.
The next day, Jan., 16, in response to a search warrant, Facebook provided Wilhelm with Sharley’s Facebook messages from Jan. 7-16. The messages contained pictures of Sharley, the conversation with the complainant and “other conversations about his attraction to young girls,” the report said.
On Jan. 17, the complainant reached out to Wilhelm because Sharley was still attempting to “acquire a pre-teen girl for sexual intercourse” and he wanted advice on what to do. A meeting was set for Jan. 19 at Sharley’s office.
At 9 a.m., his office was searched. Three computers and several hard drives were taken and forensically examined, but there was “no evidentiary value” and everything was returned to Sharley.
The West Virginia Office of Disciplinary Counsel has an open investigation into Sharley, according to Betsy Casto, legal assistant.
