United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia Prosecuting Multiple Project Safe Childhood Cases

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - Two men appeared in federal court this week on charges involving child pornography and sex offender registration, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey.

Robert Allen Welborn, 58, of Joppatowne, Maryland, was sentenced to 37 months in prison for failing to update his sex offender registration. Welborn was convicted of a crime against a child in North Carolina that required lifetime sex offender registration. In 2023, Welborn was living and working in Fairmont, West Virginia, but did not notify law enforcement of his change of address.

Brian Richard Pack, 57, of Blairsville, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. According to statements made during the plea hearing, the FBI received a tip regarding the downloading of child sex abuse material leading to Pack's address. A search warrant was executed on Pack's home, and officers seized an iPhone, along with multiple flash drives, hard drives, and a laptop, finding more than 500 images and videos containing child sex abuse material. Pack faces up to 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Conklin is prosecuting the Pack case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Rhee prosecuting the Welborn case.

Investigative agencies include West Virginia State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Marshals Service.

These cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC. 

U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael John Aloi presided over the Pack hearing.

Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh conducted the Welborn sentencing.