Evergreen Reporter

Jon Ryan LaFever, 29, of Parkersburg, was sentenced today to 25 years in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for the production of child pornography. LaFever is also required to register as a sex offender.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on or about March 16, 2023, LaFever posted a picture of a minor female on the Kik instant messaging mobile app. After posting the photo, he received a direct message from another Kik user inquiring about the minor female. LaFever admitted that he informed the user that the minor female was a 7-year-old girl to whom he had access. He further admitted to sending several additional photos through direct messaging. These included one image of the minor female in her underwear with her legs spread open and two images showing a minor female’s nude genital area.

LaFever also confessed to sending two videos of the minor female to the Kik user. In these videos, LaFever touches the minor female’s buttocks while she was asleep on a bed and attempts to pull her shorts and underwear aside to expose her genital and pubic area but stops when she appears to be waking up.

On March 20, 2023, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at LaFever’s Parkersburg residence. Officers seized his cell phone during the search; forensic analysis revealed it contained several images and videos depicting the minor female on a bed in his residence. LaFever admitted creating these images and videos with his cell phone on March 6, 2023.

LaFever told officers that he had made approximately 50 images or videos of the minor female while she was asleep in her underwear. He took steps to medicate both the minor female and an adult present in the residence to ensure his nighttime sexual abuse would not be discovered. Additionally, he distributed these images and videos online in exchange for child pornography depicting other children being abused worldwide.

LaFever also admitted possessing hundreds of images and videos of child pornography on his phone and an online file-storage account; some depicted prepubescent minors. He acknowledged that two close-up nude images sent to another Kik user were cropped from prepubescent child pornography he possessed rather than depicting his victim.

United States Attorney Will Thompson commended the investigative work conducted by U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and West Virginia State Police.

United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence with Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse through federal, state, and local resources. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Related court documents can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:23-cr-199.