(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A federal jury in Pittsburgh recently convicted thirty-nine-year-old
Justin Lee Plunk of Corinth, Mississippi, of conspiring to distribute and distributing child sexual abuse material for profit over multiple years on platforms including Instagram and Telegram after less than two hours of deliberation.

The jury found Plunk guilty of the two counts on October 9th after a trial that lasted four days.

The evidence that was presented during the trial established that Plunk was part of a criminal conspiracy that operated online from at least 2021 to 2024 in which the conspirators recruited female minors, including ones as young as 10 years old, in the Western District of Pennsylvania and other places to make “packages” of 30 images and seven videos of child sexual exploitation material, and participate in live video calls with customers.

This conspiracy operated over messaging and social media platforms which included Instagram, Snapchat, and Telegram, with one female minor introduced to the conspiracy when she was on Roblox.

It used multiple payment methods, which included the payment services Cash App and Venmo as well as gift cards from Roblox and Walmart.

The evidence also established that Plunk was involved in the conspiracy in a lot of ways, which included receiving over $57,000 in proceeds from the conspiracy in the form of cash transfers and retail store gift cards.

Plunk had been convicted previously of enticement of a child for sexual purposes in 2016 in Mississippi.

Plunk’s sentencing is scheduled for January 26th, 2027 and he could face a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in jail, a fine of up to $250,000, or both on each count, provided by the law.