Two Men Sentenced to Federal Prison for Sex Offenses Involving Minors

 CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Mike Stuart announced that two men were sentenced to federal prison for sex offenses involving minors. 

“We are making a difference,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart.  “With every child predator we but behind bars, West Virginia communities and children are safer.  Our law enforcement partners and my team of prosecutors are committed to protecting the most vulnerable among us.”

Mikel Bradley Smith, 20, of Chesapeake, Ohio, was sentenced yesterday to 97 months in prison for traveling in interstate commerce to engage in sexual activity with a minor.  Following his release from prison, Smith will serve a 20-year term of supervised release and be required to register as a sex offender. Smith previously admitted that on February 27, 2020, he responded to a Craigslist ad and engaged in a conversation with a person he believed to be a mother of two minors, ages 11 and 13.  During the course of the conversation, Smith arranged to travel from Chesapeake, Ohio, to Huntington to meet the woman in order to engage in sexual activity, including oral sex and sexual intercourse, with the two minor females. On February 28, 2020, Smith traveled to Huntington with condoms and small gifts for the two minors and met with the woman, at which time he was placed under arrest. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s West Virginia Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force conducted the investigation.   United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers imposed the sentence.  Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald handled the prosecution.

Terry Allen Riley, 62, of Parkersburg, was sentenced today to seven years in federal prison for receipt of child pornography. Following his release from prison, Riley will serve a 10-year term of supervised release and be required to register as a sex offender. Riley previously admitted that on June 12, 2015, he received a video of a prepubescent minor engaged in sex acts. The video was received on Riley’s computer located at his residence. The investigation revealed that Riley was using a cloud-based email service to download, receive, and distribute child pornography. Riley further admitted to possessing over 600 images and videos of minors engaged in sex acts, and that some of those images involved sadistic conduct or conduct involving infants and toddlers. The West Virginia State Police, the West Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, and the Parkersburg Police Department conducted the investigation. Senior United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr., imposed the sentence.  First Assistant United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston and Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald handled the prosecution.

These cases were prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case Nos. 3:20-cr-00071 (Smith) and 2:17-cr-00192 (Riley).