HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A Huntington man admitted to receiving nearly 80,000 digital files of child pornography over three years.
Craig Alexander Halstead, 36, pleaded guilty Monday to receipt of child pornography. Court documents stated that Halstead received 87,993 child pornography files via peer-to-peer file sharing programs between around August 2, 2019, and August 18, 2022.
On May 20, 2021, Halstead possessed 3,970 images and 443 videos on his laptop and external hard drive. The files depicted minor children subjected to sexually explicit conduct. Halstead also admitted that many of the images and videos were of prepubescent minors and known child victims.
On or about August 30, 2022, Halstead possessed 3,188 images and videos of child pornography in Huntington. More than 400 of those images and videos included known child victims. He then admitted that the images included infants involved in sadistic or masochistic conduct.
In November of 2022, Halstead admitted to gaining more digital media files of child pornography using peer-to-peer programs.
Halstead is scheduled to be sentenced on August 21. He faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison, between five years and a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.