CHARLESTON, W.Va. – James Russell Loar, Jr., 40, of Washington, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty today to traveling in interstate commerce to engage in sexual activity with a minor.
According to court documents and statements made during the plea hearing, on May 27, 2021, Loar traveled from Washington, Pennsylvania, to Clay County, West Virginia to have sex with a 14-year-old minor. Loar had been communicating with the minor via Snapchat for nearly a year, and his communications with her were sexual. The minor’s parents had learned about his communications, informed him of her age, but his communications continued. When Loar traveled to Clay County, he met with the minor and invited her into his truck. The minor’s mother happened to be driving by and intervened. After he was subsequently arrested, Loar admitted to sending a pornographic picture to the minor as well as telling her that he wanted to perform sex acts with her.
If the plea agreement is accepted by the Court, Loar will be sentenced to between 87 months to 108 months in prison to be followed by 15 years of supervised release when he is sentenced on May 4, 2022. He also will be required to register as a sex offender.
United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the West Virginia State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s West Virginia Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.
Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Ryan A. Keefe is handling 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. 2:21-cr-00141.
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