Kanawha County Sex Offender Sentenced to Prison for Child Pornography Crime

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Benson Cline II, 49, of Cedar Grove and a convicted sex offender, was sentenced on August 22, 2024, to seven years and eight months in prison, to be followed by 20 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $8,800 in restitution for possession of prepubescent child pornography.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between on or about July 24, 2023, to on or about November 6, 2023, Cline possessed 22 images and 134 videos of child sexual abuse material on his instant messaging app account that he accessed through his cell phone. The child pornography included digital files depicting infant, toddler and prepubescent males and females being sexually assaulted and also included instances of bestiality, sadomasochism and torture.

Cline is a registered sex offender, as a result of his conviction for soliciting a minor via computer in Kanawha County Circuit Court on February 24, 2011.

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Alexander A. Redmon prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as 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. 2:24-cr-42.

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