Princeton Woman Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Child Pornography

 BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – United States Attorney Mike Stuart announced today that Elizabeth Kaye Haway, 43, of Princeton, was sentenced to the maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute child pornography.  Upon completion of her prison sentence, the defendant will serve a 25 year term of supervised release.  Haway also was ordered to pay $42,900 in restitution to the child victim.

“Twenty years in prison for an abhorrent crime that inflicted lifelong trauma on a young child,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart.  “We will do everything within our power to keep offenders like Haway away from West Virginia’s children.  After Haway completes the state prison sentence she is currently serving, she then will spend the next two decades in federal prison.” 

Haway previously admitted that she began talking with codefendant Randall Peggs, of Wheeling, on Facebook in November 2018. Over the course of several months, Haway and Peggs conspired to distribute child pornography of Victim 1, a 5-year-old female minor child. The majority of their communications occurred on Facebook Messenger and conversations focused on Haway’s desires to touch and sexually violate Victim 1 while recording it to send to Peggs. Peggs encouraged Haway to record and send him nude videos of Victim 1 and told her that he would watch anything she sent him. Ultimately, Haway recorded a video of child pornography depicting a nude Victim 1 and sent the video to Peggs twice via Facebook in February 2019.

Haway currently is serving a lengthy state prison sentence for first degree sexual assault, sexual abuse and incest involving the same minor female child. Peggs previously pled guilty on August 3, 2020 to a federal child pornography charge arising out of this incident. His sentencing is scheduled for January 11, 2021.

This case was investigated by the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the FBI’s Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force. Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Kristin F. Scott handled handling the prosecution.

This case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:19-cr-00304.