BECKLEY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – An Upshur County man was sentenced on Friday to 168 months in federal prison for a sex crime against a minor.
George Albert Romer, Jr., 63, of Buckhannon, was convicted of attempted sex trafficking of a minor following a jury trial in June 2021. The evidence at trial revealed that on October 31, 2019, Romer began communicating via a dating application with a person he understood to a 15-year-old girl in Lewisburg, West Virginia. During the messages, Romer offered to pay the girl $100 to engage in sexual intercourse. On November 1, 2019, Romer drove from Buckhannon to Lewisburg and rented a hotel room in order to meet the minor. He was placed under arrest shortly thereafter.
Following his release from prison, Romer will be placed on supervised release for 15 years and will be required to register as a sex offender.
United States Attorney William S. Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Rada Herrald and Courtney Cremeans handled the prosecution.
United States District Judge Frank W. Volk imposed the sentence.