The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

October 9, 2008

Child pornography case against sex assault suspect considered massive

By Amelia A. Pridemore

A child pornography case against a Raleigh County man already accused of sexually assaulting one of his own children is considered massive, with sheriff’s detectives saying they may possibly find hundreds of thousands of explicit images in evidence taken from his home.

Michael Ray Crum, 40, of Crab Orchard, is charged with 20 counts of child pornography possession, Detective Sgt. Jim Bare said. Crum was taken into custody Wednesday and was being held at Southern Regional Jail on $250,000 bond.

Crum was originally arrested Sept. 24 and charged with first-degree sexual assault, sexual abuse by a parent and incest, Bare said. Bond was set at $100,000 in that case.

Bare said Crum was in jail from the September arrest date until he was released on bond and placed on home confinement Tuesday. While he was in jail the first time, the sheriff’s department executed a search warrant at his home, seizing a computer and numerous disks Crum had created.

While examining those items, investigators found 20 child pornography photos, Bare said. The photos showed boys and girls believed to be younger than 12, and they depicted sexually explicit conduct.

The children in the photos are not believed to be from this general area, and Crum is believed to have downloaded them from the Internet, Bare said. The evidence is still being examined to find the images’ possible origins.

Bare said the evidence contains a substantial amount of child pornography.

“This is the most child pornography I’ve seen in my entire (17-year) career,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if hundreds of thousands of images are found.”

Both the child pornography and child sexual assault investigations against Crum are ongoing, and there is potential for more charges to be filed against him, Bare said.

In the September case, the charges against Crum stemmed from an alleged incident involving one of his children — younger than 7 years old at the time, Bare said. The alleged incident took place in late 2006, but it came to light Sept. 24. Child Protective Services was notified, and CPS notified the sheriff’s department.

All of Crum’s children have been in CPS custody since his September arrest, Bare said.

— E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com

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