Huntington Man Sentenced For Possessing Child Pornography
Wednesday, April 9, 2025, 8:15 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
HUNTINGTON, W.VA.- On Monday, a 52-year-old convicted sex offender learned he would be spending over a decade in federal prison after being sentenced for possessing thousands of digital images and video files depicting the sexual exploitation and abuse of children, including the violent sexual abuse of prepubescent children by adults.
On Monday, April 7, 2025, Ampless Ray Lilly, 52, of Huntington, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers to 153 months in federal prison, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release for his previously entered guilty plea to Possession of Child Pornography; and Violating the Terms and Conditions of Probation.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston and charging documents filed with the District Court, beginning in and around February 20, 2023, and lasting through April 23, 2024, Lilly knowingly utilized the internet to view, download, and possess on his cellular phone 2,900 digital images and 1,100 video files from his Huntington, West Virginia home.
During His Prior Plea Hearing Lilly Admits To Crimes
During his plea allocution, Lilly admitted that the child pornography he downloaded included depictions of prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct and depictions of young children subjected to sadistic and masochistic conduct and other depictions of sexual violence.
Lilly further admitted that he had distributed digital images and video files containing child pornography through the internet.
In handing down the sentence on Monday, Judge Chambers noted Lilly’s criminal history, including being a registered sex offender as a result of his guilty plea to first-degree sexual assault out of Lincoln County Circuit Court in January 1993. During that time period of the instant offense, Lilly began serving a five-year term of probation imposed in November 2023 after pleading guilty to being a convicted felon unlawfully possessing a firearm in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in August of 2023.
According to court filings, Monday’s sentence includes 27 months for committing a crime while on probation.
Acting U.S. Attorney Johnston commended the investigative work of the West Virginia State Police for the investigation, which led to the successful prosecution of Lilly.
