BLUEFIELD, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A McDowell County woman plead guilty today to a child pornography offense.
According to the plea agreement and statements made in court, Lacosta Steele, 25, of Iaeger, admitted that in October and November 2020 she persuaded a 12-year-old girl to engage in sexually explicit conduct, including masturbation and the lascivious exhibition of her genitals, for the purpose of creating videos of this conduct. Steele admitted that she then sent those images to her then-boyfriend using her cell phone. Steele also admitted that during this same time frame she transported the same 12-year-old girl to R.D. Bailey Lake, where her then-boyfriend engaged in sexual intercourse with the child.
Steele pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography and faces at least five and up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced on April 4, 2022.
“I want to thank the West Virginia State Police and Homeland Security Investigations for their partnership in making sure that this defendant was held accountable for her heinous crime against a vulnerable child,” said United States Attorney Will Thompson.
Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald is handling the prosecution.