Barbour man receives 20 years in prison
Sentenced for transporting child sexual abuse material
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CLARKSBURG - A Barbour County man will spend the next two decades in federal prison for child sexual abuse material offense, U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey announced Wednesday.
Arlin James Fleckenstein, 36, of Belington, was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison for transporting child sexual abuse material.
In 2023, while employed as a bus driver and living on the grounds of a resort, Fleckenstein uploaded thousands of files containing child sexual abuse material to an online file‑sharing service, prompting a cyber tip and subsequent investigation.
A follow-up press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office Wednesday stressed that Fleckenstein "was a bus driver at a resort where he was also living, not for a school or school district."
During the inquiry, investigators received a second cyber tip from Instagram involving an adult engaged in an explicit conversation with a minor in another state. Both tips were traced to Fleckenstein. A search warrant for his electronic devices uncovered more than 1,000 illegal images and videos, along with additional conversations with other victims on various social media platforms.
Fleckenstein was ordered to pay $83,500 in restitution to victims in the material.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Perri prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.
Investigative agencies included the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the West Virginia State Police.
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 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 Justice.gov/PSC.
Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh presided over the case.