John Webb Powell, Child Pornography, North Carolina 2021

A repeat sex offender in North Carolina has been sentenced to 24.5 years in prison for child pornography charges, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

On February 2020, John Webb Powell, 51, of Burnsville, N.C., was communicating with a minor female via text messages. Over the course of their communications, Powell solicited and received from the minor, images depicting the minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. According to information contained in court documents, Powell also committed repeated sexual assaults against the minor over an extended time period.

A forensic analysis of Powell’s seized cell phone further revealed that Powell had conducted internet searches for images containing child pornography. At the time of the offense, Powell was registered as a sex offender and was on supervised release for a previous federal offense of possession of child pornography.

Powell pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography on October 18, 2021. He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked Homeland Security Investigations and the Yancey County Sheriff’s Office for their investigation of the case.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Powell was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger to 294 months in prison, a lifetime under court supervision upon completion of the prison term, and to register as a sex offender.

“Powell will spend the next two decades where he belongs: behind bars,” said U.S. Attorney King. “Recidivist sex offenders who prey on vulnerable children pose a serious danger to the community and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Powell’s sentence is a result of the collaborative work of Homeland Security Investigations and its law enforcement partners, ensuring that Powell will no longer pose a threat to children and communities in the region.

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