Story by Chris Lawrence
RIPLEY, W.Va. — A Jackson County man has been arrested on charges of sexual exploitation of children that authorities say began at last year’s Jackson County Junior Fair.
According to Sheriff Ross Mellinger, Caleb Bourgeois, 36, of Cottageville, was arrested by deputies Wednesday night. Investigators claimed Bourgeois placed a hidden camera inside a camper parked at the fair. The camera captured video of unsuspecting children changing clothes. According to deputies, he then used the images of those children to generate A-I videos of them performing sexual acts.
“This is the perfect storm where a devious mind meets modern technology,” said Mellinger on MetroNews Midday. “You look at all the good things in the world A-I can contribute to, but here we are dealing with this kind of crap.”
The discovery was made when deputies were called to Bourgeois’ home for a domestic disturbance. Mellinger said when they arrived they learned his wife had discovered the images on his phone and was furious. After obtaining search warrants and discovering the full scope of what had happened, deputies began the difficult and unnerving process of identifying victims whose images appeared on the phone. The situation was posted to social media and the sheriff said the phones haven’t stopped ringing.
“We’ve had multiple, numerous calls from concerned parents of potential victims. Now it’s just a matter of matching up interviews and statements and images to see if we can actually identify them,” he said.
The Sheriff’s Department has asked anyone in the community who suspects their child may have been a victim in this situation to please contact the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department at 304-373-2290. Authorities say it’s expected to be an ongoing and apparently voluminous and complex investigation.
Mellinger said the ease with which this was done is the most terrifying aspect.
“The thing that is most disturbing is most of these types of incidents, the victim is in a bad situation to begin with and they are getting groomed. But the acquisition of these images were taken in such an innocent manner,” he said.
Bourgeois is in the South Central Regional Jail on $250,000 bail.
Editor’s note- MetroNews originally reported Bourgeois was a member of the Jackson County Fair Board, he is not.