Point Pleasant Man Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Trafficking Offense

 CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Point Pleasant man pleaded guilty today to a federal child sex trafficking offense.

According to court documents, Dale Randall McCarthy, Jr., 51, admitted that on August 8, 2020, he agreed with a man he met online to pay $100 to have sex with a 14-year-old girl that would be supplied by the other man. McCarthy met with the man at a motel in Dunbar and paid the man $40 up front for sex with the girl, with the remainder to be paid after the sexual activity.  After paying the man $40, McCarthy was placed under arrest.  McCarthy further admitted that he had previously used Craigslist to communicate with minors about meeting for sexual activity. In one such conversation, McCarthy admitted to requesting and receiving a sexually explicit image of a person who stated they were a minor.

McCarthy pleaded guilty to attempted sex trafficking of a minor and faces at least 10 years and up to life in prison when he is sentenced on August 12,  2021.

Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and praised the investigative work of the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald is handling the prosecution.

Senior United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr., presided over the hearing. 

This case was 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.