CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Virginia man pleaded guilty today to traveling in interstate commerce to engage in illicit sexual activity with a minor.
According to statements made in court, Austin James Quesenberry, 27, of Dublin, Va., traveled from Virginia in December 2021 to St. Albans, W.Va, in order to meet a minor he believed to be a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity, including sexual intercourse. He also sent the purported minor videos of himself masturbating.
Quesenberry is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, 2022, and faces a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement. The FBI Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force conducted the investigation.
Chief United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston presided over the hearing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald is prosecuting the case.
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. 2:22-cr-00011.
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