Joseph Alan Lamp entered guilty pleas in the Circuit Court of Calhoun County on January 8th, 2024 (trial held in Roane County) and was sentenced on multiple charges.
Lamp’s pleas were as follows:
Guilty PLea to ATTEMPT TO COMMIT A FELONY; to-wit: SOLICITATION OF A MINOR VIA COMPUTER , a felony a lesser-include crime of Count One
Guilty Plea to DISTRIBUTION AND DISPLAY TO MINOR OF OBSCENE MATERIAL, a felony, as charged in Count Six one (1) count of ATTEMPT TO COMMIT A FELONY; to-wit: SOLICITATION OF A MINOR VIA COMPUTER , a felony
SENTENCED the Defendant to a term of not less one (1) nor more than three (3) years in the custody of the West Virginia Division of Corrections
one (1) count of DISTRIBUTION AND DISPLAY TO MINOR OF OBSCENE MATERIAL, a felony
SENTENCED the Defendant to a term of five (5) years in the custody of the West Virginia Division of Corrections.
sentences to be run CONCURRENTLY
Register as a sexual offender for the remainder of his life pursuant to W. Va. Code § 15-12-4(a)(2) and further ORDERS that upon release from incarceration, the Defendant shall be subject to fifty (50) years of extended supervised release pursuant to W. Va. Code § 62-12-26.
The story here should have been “Why was Count 1 reduced and what happened to Counts 2,3,4 and 5?” It would appear that our former, experienced prosecutor, Nigel Jeffries secured an indictment from the Grand Jury for six counts revolving around the sexual exploitation of a minor. Traditionally the most serious charge is Count 1 with the following charges listed in the order of seriousness, with the last being the least serious. Our “new” prosecutor with no prior experience as a prosecutor allowed a plea to a lesser charge on Count 1 and then dropped four other counts, allowing a plea on the last charge. Why? If you are not resolved to prosecute someone who sexually preys on minors to the fullest extent of the law, what are you doing in that position? Plea bargaining away sex crimes against minors rather than taking them to trial is not what should be happening. If someone wants to plead to these type crimes, they can, AS CHARGED, not plea bargained.