Original Article09/19/2011
By Ashley B. Craig
A former state correctional officer will spend nearly four years in federal prison after investigators found child pornography on his home computer.
Joseph F. Roush Jr., 35, of Mason County was sentenced Monday to 46 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers after pleading guilty in May to possession of child pornography, according to a statement released by U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin's office.
Roush was working at the Lakin Correctional Center near Point Pleasant when the discovery was made. Lakin is a women's prison.
The FBI began its investigation into Roush in April 2009 when an agent in Maryland found information that Roush had child porn in his possession. Further investigation revealed that Roush had more than 600 images and videos of children participating in sexually explicit conduct.
The investigation showed that Roush used an Internet peer-to-peer file sharing program to download and share the explicit videos.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse created in February 2006 by the Department of Justice.
