West Virginia Man Sentenced to 25 Years for Sexually Exploiting Minor

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal judge sentenced a West Virginia man to more than two decades in prison, today, for child sex abuse crimes. U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin sentenced Donald Robert Wilt Edwards, Sr., 30, to 25 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for sexually exploiting a minor. A federal grand jury indicted Edwards in connection with the charges in April 2025. Kelly O. Hayes, U.S Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul, FBI Baltimore Field Office, Commissioner Richard Worley, Baltimore Police Department (BPD), and Colonel Jack Chambers, Superintendent, West Virginia State Police. According to court documents, in June 2024, while he still lived in Baltimore, Edwards captured himself sexually abusing and exploiting a three-year-old minor victim. Edwards produced two images and one video of the abuse and distributed the files online using the Kik messaging application. He also possessed other child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his cell phone and within his social media accounts. In December 2024, investigators executed a search warrant at Edwards’ Elkins, West Virginia, residence, seizing multiple electronic devices. Throughout the course of the investigation, law enforcement uncovered additional CSAM on Edwards’ devices and in his social media accounts. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by 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 individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc . Click the “Resources” tab on the left side of the page to learn about Internet safety education. U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes commended the FBI, BPD, West Virginia State Police, and West Virginia Parole and Probation Office for their work in the investigation. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Reema Sood and Paul E. Budlow who are prosecuting the federal case. For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, visit justice.gov/usao-md . # # #