CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA — Two Grafton, West Virginia, residents were named in separate Indictments returned by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Clarksburg, West Virginia, on September 3, 2008.

United States Attorney Sharon L. Potter announced that:

BOBBIE JAMES VANNOY, age 34, was named in a two-count Indictment. The Indictment alleges that VANNOY possessed computer disks and other material containing images of child pornography that had been shipped and transported in interstate commerce via a computer in February 2007 in Philippi, Barbour County, West Virginia; and on August 15, 2007, in Grafton, Taylor County, West Virginia.

DARRIC JOEL SWEENEY, age 26, was named in a one-count Indictment. The Indictment alleges that SWEENEY possessed a computer disk and other material containing images of child pornography that had been shipped and transported in interstate commerce via a computer on February 1, 2008, in Grafton.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum exposure of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 on each count of the Indictment.

These cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

The cases were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

The cases will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David J. Perri.

It should be noted that the charges contained in the Indictments are merely accusations and not evidence of guilt, and that each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.