Berkeley County Man Sentenced For Child Pornography Charge
Thursday, December 5, 2024, 7:00 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
MARTINSBURG, W.VA.- On Tuesday, a 42-year-old Bunker Hill, West Virginia, convicted child predator learned that he would be spending the next two decades of his life in federal prison following being sentenced for possessing thousands of images of child pornography, including images of toddlers being sexually abused.
According to U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, Beau Thomas Shores, 42, of Bunker Hill, appeared in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Gina M. Groh to 240 months in federal prison, for his conviction of Receipt and Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Groh ordered Shores to pay a $64,000 fine and serve 30 years of supervised release upon completion of his imprisonment.
   According to charging information filed with the court, Shores was utilizing his cellular phone to access and download child pornography on the internet. Shores’ internet activity was discovered by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who then forwarded the activity to federal and state law enforcement.
Following Shores’ IP Address being identified, federal and state agents obtained and executed a court-authorized search of Shores’ Bunker Hill home. During the search, agents seized multiple electronic devices. A subsequent forensic examination of the devices uncovered thousands of digital images and video files depicting nude and sexually explicit conduct of prepubescent and pubescent children, some with children as young as three years old.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
