Raymond Dugan, Child Pornography, West Virginia 2022

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Logan County man has been sentenced to prison for accessing child pornography, a crime that has no tolerance under the law, according to prosecutors.

Raymond Dugan, 55, of Logan, was sentenced on March 9, 2022, to four years and six months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for accessing with the intent to view prepubescent child pornography. Dugan must also register as a sex offender.

A federal jury found Dugan guilty following a one-day trial. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on June 11, 2020, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Dugan’s residence. Officers obtained the search warrant for Dugan’s residence after tracing an Internet Protocol (IP) address that had been used to access a website on the dark web known to share child sexual abuse and exploitation material.

Officers seized several electronic devices during the search, including a laptop computer. An analysis by the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory Digital Forensics Unit (DFU) revealed 1,237 images of child pornography on the laptop. Some of the images depicted prepubescent minors subjected to sadistic and masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.

“There can be no tolerance under the law for anyone who exploits or preys upon children,” said United States Attorney Will Thompson. “I commend the investigative work of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory Digital Forensics Unit (DFU). I also commend Assistant United States Attorneys Julie White and Nowles Heinrich and the trial team for the successful prosecution of this case.”

United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006.

Raymond Dugan’s case highlights the importance of law enforcement working together to protect children from online predators. The case also serves as a reminder that those who engage in such crimes will be held accountable.

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