A February 8, 2016, news release from the Louisa County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office:

Louisa – Today, Louisa County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rusty E. McGuire announced the conviction of Daniel L. Shelton, of Louisa, for seven counts of solicitation of a minor, two counts of possession of child pornography and twelve counts of failing to register his social media accounts as a violent sex offender. Shelton, 23, who was previously convicted of a sex offense in 2014, solicited a fourteen-year-old female over the course of several months in the spring and summer of 2015. After the child’s parents discovered their daughter was communicating with a sex offender they took the victim’s phone and told Shelton to stay away from the minor. A month later they found a new phone with inappropriate pictures sent to the minor from Shelton. They reached out to the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office where Deputy Bryan Hager and Detective Charles Love, the Internet Crimes Against Children “ICAC” Investigator, worked together on the case.

This case was successfully prosecuted as part of the Louisa Child Safety Initiative “CSI Louisa” program. CSI Louisa launched the pilot program in 2010 in an attempt to obtain convictions of sexual predators without putting victims on the stand. CSI Louisa partners sexual contact investigators with ICAC investigators to prosecute dual contact and Internet offenders. With Virginia’s tough laws against Internet predators, CSI Louisa is often able to obtain convictions of dual offenders without putting the child on the stand. This case, like prior cases involving Joe Leake, Joseph Bell, James Dollins and Michael Robinson demonstrate the success of this investigation and prosecution technique.

Following Shelton’s conviction, McGuire said “Mr. Shelton will no longer present a danger to the children of Louisa. His pattern of conduct shows an unmistakable effort to prey on children in our community. Mr. Shelton is facing a maximum sentence of 280 years and we hope that this case will send a message to anyone else that if you attempt to steal the innocence of a child in Louisa County, you will go to prison.”

Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Adam J. Ward, who prosecuted the case with McGuire, said: “This case shows the dangers out there for children and teenagers. With the ever growing availability of cell phones and social media applications, predators like Shelton have access to impressionable children. This case highlights the importance of parents being vigilant in monitoring their children’s cell phone usage and social media accounts.”

CSI Louisa is a partnership between the Louisa County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office and the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The National Association to Protect Children partnered with Louisa during the pilot program that developed Louisa’s dual offender rapid response protocol.
The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on April 11, 2016 and faces up to 280 years in prison.