BUCKHANNON – A Barbour County man was arrested Wednesday after allegedly traveling to Upshur County to have sex with a 14-year-old female.

Robert C. Shahan, 36, of Belington was arrested for solicitation of a minor via computer, a felony.

According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by Patrolman First Class Angel McCauley with the Buckhannon Police Department, on June 1, 2022, Shahan allegedly arranged a meeting with someone “who he presumed to be a 14-year-old girl at an agreed-upon, undisclosed location.”

The police report says that Shahan allegedly used a social media platform to “describe the sexual acts he wanted to perform on the presumed 14-year-old.” He also allegedly sent explicit photos and “asked [the minor] if she liked his genitals,” the file states.

Shahan then allegedly arranged a ride from Barbour County to the agreed-upon meeting place in Upshur County “to meet and have sexual intercourse with the presumed 14-year-old,” McCauley wrote in the report. However, when Shahan arrived, Buckhannon Police Department officers arrested him.

Upshur County Magistrate Alan Suder set bail at $75,000 cash only.

The penalty for a conviction of solicitation of a minor via computer is a fine of up to $25,000, imprisonment in the state penitentiary for not less than five nor more than 30 years, or both.