A complaint from Corporal D.C. Moore filed against Joseph Earl Yoak, in the Magistrate Court of Calhoun County on Friday, April 7, 2023, stated the following: On that same day at approximately 11:00 a.m. Corporal DC Moore, along with Corporal J. Demeyer, Sgt. Pringle, Cpl. Brian Young, and Parkersburg PD officer D. Miller went to 1103 Leaf bank Road, Grantsville, for a search warrant, which had been prepared by Cpl. Demeyer for the seizure of all electronic devices in the residence due to the activity pertaining to the downloading and possessing of child pornography.
While at the residence, the Corporal D.C. Moore and Sgt.Pringle located a firearm in a dresser drawer, which had been setup to use as a muzzleloader. The firearm had an interchangeable cylinder which converted to a centerfire, which the cylinder, along with ammunition for that same firearm was located in the same dresser. The defendant is convicted of a violent felony offense of first degree sexual assault, with a minor victim. Conviction date of 6/4/2006 in Kentucky.
Cpl. Moore was advised by Mr. Yoak that he had a cell phone that he used that had not been registered on his sex offender registration. The cellphone was located in the kitchen area of his residence and was seized by the officers for testing to see if it had been used to download child pornography.
The officers also had information that the defendant had been regularly working in an “under the table” status, doing odd jobs for money or services rendered. The defendant did not have any jobs listed on his registry, and even doing any kind of work on a regular basis would constitute a violation of his sex offender registry.
The defendant has a prior conviction for failure to update his sex offender registration. Corporal J. Bowles charged the defendant with failure to register a change with his vehicle. The defendant was convicted on 12/14/2011 of the same.
Due to his charges the defendant is a lifetime registrant.
Joseph Earl Yoak was arrested on April 7th, 2023 and taken to West Virginia Central Regional Jail where he is being held on $250,000 bond
