
A tip provided to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was forwarded to the Bridgeport Police Department in West Virginia where the investigation continued.
Based on information provided in the tip which included the name of an account that had been "uploading child pornography on Facebook on 10/19/20" officers were able to track the IP address also provided back to a residence in Bridgeport, WV where the name of the resident matched that of the name on the account.
Taylor County School was notified on March 2 that officers were investigating 57-year-old Randy McKinley. That same day he resigned.
On March 3 officers executed a search warrant at the residence of McKinley where officers found thumbnails of images depicting "obvious child pornography involving prepubescent males and females." A further search warrant was then obtained for the information contained on the account itself.
March 21 officers determined that the information that McKinley had on his account amounted to approximately 105 videos, equaling 7,800 images.
Christy Miller, Taylor County Schools superintendent issued a statement saying that there was no information that led them to believe that any students were involved and that they remained "committed to the safety of our students." She additionally recommended that anyone with further questions on the investigation contact the Bridgeport Police Department or the West Virginia State Police.
McKinley was arrested on April 1 and charged with distributing and exhibiting child pornography. By April 6 he was out of jail on a $25,000 bond.
According to WV News, a conviction involving 600 images or more under West Virginia Code is subject to a sentence of 5-15 years in jail with a possible fine of $25,000. He would be eligible for parole after 5 years.
“In every case my Office handles and prosecutes, the end goal is to see that justice is served and individual rights were upheld,” Harrison County Prosecutor Rachel Romano was quoted as saying by WDTV. “Many of the cases prosecuted have real life victims associated with the crimes charged but none are as hard to handle as those that involve children - they are considered the most innocent among us and it’s hard to see anyone take advantage of a child or perpetuate the cycle of violence towards a child.”