Police: Buckhannon man arrested for allegedly possessing child pornography

BUCKHANNON – A Buckhannon man was arrested Wednesday after allegedly being found in possession of child pornography.

Donald E. Taylor, 41, was arrested for distribution and exhibiting of material depicting minors in sexually explicit conduct, a felony.

The case originated in October 2019, according to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by investigating officer Cpl. Eric Bostic with the Sutton detachment of the West Virginia State Police.

According to the file, on Oct. 4, 2019, after Taylor had been read his Miranda Rights, Bostic allegedly obtained a digitally recorded statement from Taylor in which Taylor reportedly told Bostic he had seen pornography involving minors on his phone, but he only “hit the button because his fingers were so big.”

He stated that the “only porn he looked at” involved females who were “legal” but “[one] might say teens.”

The file says Taylor signed a consent form giving the WVSP permission to search his electronic devices. Bostic located a hard drive and laptop in Taylor’s bedroom and a cellphone in his front pocket.

Bostic went to an Upshur County magistrate to obtain a search warrant for Taylor’s electronic devices.

Then, on Wednesday May 20, 2020, Bostic obtained a CD and report containing the downloaded results from the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory in Morgantown from Taylor’s cellphone. The report revealed Taylor’s “phone contained 17,621 images and 16 videos that contained child pornography material.”

“Some of the material revealed children that appeared and stated to be approximately four years of age engaging in sexual activities,” Bostic writes in the complaint.

Magistrate Mike Coffman set bail at $100,000 cash or surety.

If convicted of distribution and exhibiting of material depicting minors engaged in explicit sexual conduct, Taylor would face confinement in a state correctional facility for not less than five nor more than 15 years, a fine of up to $25,000 or both.