PARKERSBURG, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A deputy coroner with the Dawson County, Georgia Coroner’s Office has been extradited to Wood County and faces several charges in relation to the exploitation of children, including possession of child pornography.
According to the Parkersburg Police Department, an investigation conducted by detectives began in December 2022 into James Ricky Wiggins, 55 of Dawsonville, Georgia. Wiggins had begun using social media to chat with a Parkersburg Police Department Investigator who he believed to be a fifteen-year-old minor female.
Over the course of the investigation, Wiggins sent multiple photos of his face and full body, including genitalia. He also spoke of engaging in sexual activity with the juvenile and sent multiple videos of himself engaging in sexual activities with himself.
Additionally, Wiggins made attempts at soliciting nude photographs from the juvenile female and also attempted to have her engage in sexual activity via video chat for him to watch.
Investigators learned that Wiggins was a deputy coroner with the Dawson County, Georgia Coroner’s Office and was employed at a local funeral home. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) was contacted by Parkersburg Police Department investigators, and the GBI began an investigation into Wiggins which included the drafting of a search warrant for his residence.
On Tuesday, January 10, 2023, a Parkersburg Police Department investigator traveled to Georgia to meet with GBI investigators and took Wiggins into custody. The search warrant on Wiggins’ residence was conducted by GBI investigators and, during the search, Wiggin’s was allegedly found to be in possession of child pornography.
Wiggins was placed in the Dawson County Jail on two counts of sexual exploitation of children, filed by GBI investigators, and for being a fugitive from justice from West Virginia where he was charged with use of obscene matter with intent to seduce a minor.
Parkersburg Police Department investigators traveled to Dawson County and extradited Wiggins to Parkersburg on Friday, January 20, 2023, where he appeared before a Wood County Magistrate.
The investigation remains ongoing, and additional charges are said to potentially be issued from both states.
Additional LOOTPRESS crime coverage can be found here.