Craig Alexander Halstead, Child Pornography, West Virginia 2023

Huntington Man Sentenced to 7 Years and 6 Months for Receipt of Child Pornography

A Huntington man has been sentenced to prison for his involvement in the receipt and distribution of child pornography. Craig Alexander Halstead, 36, was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison, to be followed by 20 years of supervised release, for his crime.

According to court documents, Halstead admitted to receiving 87,993 digital media files of child pornography via peer-to-peer file sharing programs from about August 2, 2019, until about August 18, 2022. Many of the digital media files depicted prepubescent minors, including infants and toddlers, subjected to sexually explicit conduct, including sadistic conduct.

Halstead also admitted to possessing images and videos of child pornography on his laptop and external hard drive on May 20, 2021. He possessed 3,970 images and 443 videos depicting minor children subjected to sexually explicit conduct. Many of the images and videos depicted prepubescent minors, and several depicted known child victims.

On or about August 30, 2022, Halstead possessed 3,188 images and videos of child pornography in Huntington. Over 400 of those images and videos depicted known child victims. Halstead admitted that the images included infants subjected to sadistic or masochistic conduct.

Halstead also admitted to accessing and receiving digital media files of child pornography using peer-to-peer programs on November 29, 2022. He must pay $15,000 in restitution and register as a sex offender as part of his sentence.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Huntington Police Department all assisted in the investigation.

Halstead's sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers. Assistant United States Attorneys Julie M. White and Erik S. Goes prosecuted the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdwv/pr/huntington-man-sentenced-prison-child-pornography-crime-0