CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Joey Michael King, 41, of Elkview, was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for attempted enticement of a minor. King was also ordered to pay a $5,000 special assessment pursuant to the 2015 Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.
According to court documents and statements made in court, King previously admitted that in February 2019, he communicated via a social messaging application with a minor he believed to be a 15-year-old girl located in Bridgeport. In reality, the minor was a law enforcement officer with the West Virginia State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force who was operating online in an undercover capacity. Despite knowing the purported minor’s age, King repeatedly requested the girl to take sexually explicit photographs and to send him the photographs via text and email. King provided the girl with his personal cell phone number and his personal email, both of which matched the phone number and email that King provided to the West Virginia Sex Offender Registry in his January 2019 Sex Offender Registration Report.
King was also sentenced to lifetime on supervised release following his release from prison and is required to register as a sex offender.
United States Attorney William S. Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the West Virginia State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Bridgeport Police Department, and the Nitro Police Department.
United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Kristin F. Scott handled the prosecution.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:19-cr-00301.
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