FALLING WATERS, W.Va. — A Berkeley County man is behind bars for allegedly possessing and distributing child pornography.
According to a criminal complaint, the FBI contacted West Virginia State Police after discovering a child pornographic image on the social media site KIK. The image depicted a four year-old girl sitting on a bed in her underwear touching herself sexually.
The image was shared by KIK user “mygirlfancyya”. The user’s IP address was traced through an online conversation to an Emerson Drive residence in Falling Waters.
“The user of “mygirlfancyya” was engaging in a conversation with another party where he stated the child in the photo was a younger image of his now 11 year old daughter. The user of “mygirlfancyya” further engages in a conversation with the other party about sexually abusing his daughter.”
– Cpl. FH. Edwards, WVSP
A search warrant was issued for the Emerson Drive address on September 18. Upon arrival, Cpl. Edwards made contact with Eric Smith, 50, who admitted to sharing child porn images on KIK during multiple occasions.
Two cell phones were seized from Smith for further investigation. One of the phones contained 34 videos depicting children ages 12 months to 12 years old “engaging in sexually explicit conduct”. The shortest video was 6 seconds while the longest was 1 minute and 59 seconds. This equals 2,550 images.
Smith faces single counts of possession of child pornography, distribution of child pornography and possession of child erotica. As of Thursday, he remained at the Eastern Regional Jail on $25,000 bond.