BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man was arrested Wednesday night for allegedly being in possession of explicit photos of a minor.

Clayton D. Kimble, 35, of Tallmansville, was arrested Oct. 11 for possession of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, a felony.

According to the report provided by arresting officer Cpl. T.R. Collins with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office, in September 2023, the minor’s parent approached the sheriff’s office with a complaint about one of their friends, Kimble, possessing explicit photos of the 17-year-old.

The parent allegedly provided Collins with evidence that Kimble possessed nude photos of the juvenile, and Collins obtained a search warrant through the Upshur County Magistrate Court office and uploaded it to Facebook’s Law Enforcement Portal.

“Upon the return of the records from Facebook, I located multiple pictures and videos depicting minors [engaged] in sexually explicit conduct,” Collins wrote in the report.

The report alleges Kimble began talking to the minor in September 2021, with their last recorded interaction occurring Aug. 27, 2023. The file also says the minor allegedly sent multiple explicit photos of themselves over Facebook Messenger, and Kimble allegedly asked the minor about creating more content.

According to the report, on Sept. 19, 2023, Collins met with Kimble to discuss the photos and videos, and Kimble allegedly admitted he was aware that the minor had just turned 17 years old.

The report estimates that Kimble had over 50 images of the minor but less than 600.

Bail was set at $25,000 cash or surety.

The potential penalty for a conviction of possession of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct is imprisonment in a state penitentiary for not less than two nor more than 10 years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.