Cabell County Man Pleads Guilty to Wiretapping after Recording Teen Exchange Student with Hidden Cameras

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Darrel Lee Wells, 59, of Barboursville, pleaded guilty today to wiretapping. Wells admitted that he recorded a 17-year-old female foreign exchange student living at his residence using hidden cameras he installed.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between in or about January 2022 and on or about April 4, 2022, Wells purchased at least two concealable cameras online, had them shipped in interstate commerce to his Barboursville residence, and secretly installed them in his residence. As part of his guilty plea, Wells admitted that he installed one hidden camera designed to look like a towel hanger on a bathroom door aimed at the shower and a second hidden camera that was also a USB block charger in a bedroom. The hidden cameras captured and recorded both video and audio.

Wells further admitted that he used the hidden cameras to record and save images and videos of a 17-year-old female foreign exchange student who was living at this residence at the time. Wells admitted that he recorded the girl in both her bedroom and the bathroom, that her nude breasts were exposed in some of the images, and that she was wearing only a towel in others. Wells saved these images and videos to several Micro SD cards, a USB drive, and a laptop hard drive. Wells also created videos of the female victim in both the bathroom and her bedroom that captured her speaking aloud.

Wells is scheduled to be sentenced on December 14, 2026, and faces a minimum of two years and six months and up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Wells must also register as a sex offender.

A federal grand jury indicted Wells in May 2025. Wells pleaded guilty today to an information charging him with a felony in lieu of the indictment.

United States Attorney Moore Capito made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the West Virginia State Police.

United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald is prosecuting the case.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney's Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACERLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. by searching for Case Nos. 3:26-cr-96 and 3:25-cr-106 (indictment).

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