Jon Talkington, 37, of New Martinsville, West Virginia, has been sentenced to 210 months, or 17.5 years, in federal prison for soliciting child sexual abuse material, U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey announced.
The investigation began after a social media platform submitted a cyber tip to law enforcement, identifying known child sexual abuse material. Investigators found that Talkington had uploaded images and videos to the platform, seeking to acquire additional files from other users. A subsequent search of his phones and laptops uncovered hundreds of images and videos depicting child sexual abuse material.
U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey underscored the severity of the crime, stating, "Every offender who trades in this material contributes to the abuse of real children." He added that such offenders "will be held accountable and removed from our communities for a very long time."
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Perri prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the West Virginia State Police. This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative combating child sexual exploitation.