Fayette County Man Pleads Guilty to Sex Offense Against a Minor

 CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Fayette County man pleaded guilty today to attempted enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. Christopher Lee Foster, 36, of Oak Hill, was charged via indictment in June 2021.

According to the plea agreement, Foster admitted that in early March 2021 he initiated contact with a person via a messaging application. Believing this person to be a 13-year-old girl from New Jersey, Foster engaged in conversations over the next two months wherein he told the minor he wanted to meet her to engage in sexual activity. After learning that the girl was sexually inexperienced, Foster sent her pictures of his penis as well as numerous images and videos of pornography to teach her about sex. He also repeatedly pressured the minor to send him sexually explicit photographs of herself, even offering to pay her for such images.

Foster further admitted that in approximately 2015 and 2016 he produced (or caused the production of) sexually explicit images of a different minor.

If the plea agreement is accepted by the Court, Foster will be sentenced to between 235 months (19 years, 7 months) and 292 months (24 years, 4 months) in prison when he is sentenced on January 5, 2022. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.  

Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber presided over the hearing.  Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald is handling the prosecution.

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.