The Inter-Mountain photo by Taylor McKinnie John Kenneth Beam is sworn in during his sentencing hearing in Randolph County Circuit Court.

ELKINS — A Barbour County man has been sentenced to seven years of supervised probation to ensure he pays his child support after failing to do so.

John Kenneth Beam, 45, of Belington, was sentenced by Randolph County Circuit Court Judge Jaymie Wilfong to not less than one, nor more than three years in prison, suspended for seven years of supervised probation. As a term of his supervised probation, Beam must pay his monthly child support obligations.

Beam must pay his monthly child support obligations as a term of his supervised probation.

Wilfong said that on Jan. 5, Beam pleaded guilty to one count of failure to meet an obligation to provide support for a minor, a felony. Beam was indicted on the charge by a Randolph County grand jury in July.

During the sentencing hearing, Beam was represented by attorney Steve Nanners. The state was represented by Assistant Prosecutor Christina Harper.

Before Beam was sentenced, Nanners addressed the court, stating that Beam had, “in essence,” already served the minimum of the sentence and would be parole eligible at that point. He asked the court to consider Beam’s credit for time served and just impose the fine.

Beam did not address the court during the hearing.

As per the plea agreement between Beam and the state, Harper did not give a recommendation for sentencing; however, she informed the court that the victim in this case was present and wished to speak.

The victim told the court she would like for the no contact order against Beam to be dropped so she and Beam could communicate with each other “for the children’ s sake.” She also asked that the money owed to her be transferred through the Circuit Clerk, as Beam owed child support to two other women as well. Wilfong later lifted the no contact order.

When asked by Wilfong as to what she believed the sentence to be, the victim stated that Beam should be let out of jail “to give him a chance” to find work and become involved in his children’s lives.

After sentencing Beam, Wilfong explained that she gave him a suspended sentence of supervised probation so that there was incentive for him to pay the child support he owes to the victim.