Monongalia County Magistrate Sandy Holepit set bail at $1 million Friday for a Westover man charged with six counts of distribution and exhibiting material depicting minors engaged in sexual conduct.
Westover Police Chief Joe Adams said Westover PD was notified after the Parkersburg Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation received information that Justin Ryan Weston, 41, was downloading pornography involving children off the Internet.
Adams said the victims depicted in the material are not local and WPD is not aware of any previous cases involving Weston.
According to the police report, the investigation was initiated on March 11, resulting in a search warrant for 127 Parkview Drive, in Westover.
Items were seized during the search and those items were forensically examined.
Among the items seized was a device being carried by Weston. On that device, investigators found files that depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, specifically conduct that involves violence, bondage and sexual acts.
The children in the images are believed to be between 1 and 10 years old.
The six felony charges each carry a term of five to 15 years in prison, a $25,000 fine, or both.
