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Detectives arrest three in Morgantown child exploitation sting

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Monongalia County Sheriff’s detectives arrested three men during a child exploitation sting in Morgantown.

Erik Layhue, 29, from Lemont Furnace, Pa.; Christopher L. Dignan, 58, from Cumberland, Md. and Christopher Eldridge, 26, of Fairmont are charged for soliciting a minor via computer. Layhue and Dignan traveled from out of state with the intent to engage in sexual contact with someone who they thought was 15-year-old female. Eldridge traveled from Fairmont.

Layhue and Dignan posted $10,000 bonds, while Eldridge received a $50,000 bond is being held in North Central Regional Jail.

The sheriff’s department assisted the West Virginia Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force with the operation.





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