David Walter McCauley of Buckhannon, West Virginia, has pleaded guilty to possessing images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit acts, United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld announced Thursday.

McCauley, age 66, appeared in federal court and entered a plea of guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. According to court documents and statements made in court, McCauley enticed a 17-year-old boy to engage in sexually explicit conduct for photo and video production. Investigators searched McCauley’s residence and office and seized electronic devices containing illegal images and videos of the minor engaged in sexual acts with McCauley.

McCauley faces up to 10 years in prison, and the United States Attorney’s Office will recommend that McCauley receive the maximum sentence. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

“Manipulating a child to produce pornographic images is a despicable crime,” said U.S. Attorney Ihlenfeld. “I’m grateful for the hard work of our law enforcement partners to ensure that David McCauley will no longer pose a threat to the community.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberley Crockett is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pittsburgh Police Department, and the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. Mazzone presided.