Kevin Curtis Jones: Charges, AI Image, and Bond Conditions

Kevin Curtis Jones, the former pastor of Summit Church in Elkins, West Virginia, was arrested on October 1, 2025, and faces two felony counts: soliciting a minor via computer, and distributing material depicting a minor in sexually explicit activity. He was 33 at the time of arrest and remains held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on $100,000 in cash-only bonds. Trial is scheduled for October 2026.¹

The Charges

Officers from the Barbour County Sheriff’s Office and the Mountain Region Drug and Violent Crime Task Force arrested Jones in an RV at the Smokey Bottom Camp Ground and seized what they described as a large number of phones and storage devices.² The solicitation count came first; a second felony count for distributing and exhibiting material depicting minors in sexually explicit conduct was filed days later.³

According to the criminal complaint, the alleged victim attended Summit Church as a juvenile, and investigators described Jones as a “person of trust over the victim.”² The complaint alleged that Jones used a communication device to solicit her into a “clandestine relationship” to begin once she turned 18, with contact reportedly starting after she and other juveniles visited his home around Christmas 2023.

At the October 14, 2025 preliminary hearing, the alleged victim testified that sexual contact with Jones did not occur until after she turned 18 and said she wanted a relationship with him.⁴ Randolph County Magistrate Michael Dyer found probable cause and bound the solicitation charge over to a grand jury.⁵

The AI-Generated Image

The second count rests on digital evidence pulled from phones belonging to both Jones and the alleged victim. Investigating officer Deputy D.A. Cale testified that the devices contained photos of the alleged victim in a swimsuit and underwear, along with what the state described as an AI-generated graphic image created from a real photograph of her. The images shared identical timestamps from March 2025.⁶

At the November 3, 2025 probable cause hearing, defense attorney James Hawkins Jr. argued two points: that the AI image did not depict “sexually explicit conduct” because the victim was merely standing in it, and that West Virginia’s law covering computer-generated child pornography was enacted after the image was created in March 2025.⁶

The statute in question is West Virginia Code § 61-8C-3, amended through Senate Bill 198 during the 2025 Regular Session.⁷ As amended, it prohibits the distribution, exhibition, and possession of “computer-generated child pornography” and provides that a “visual portrayal created in whole or in part by digital manipulation, artificial intelligence, or any other means” can satisfy the elements of the offense. The depicted minor does not need to be an actual existing person.⁸

Assistant Prosecutor Leckta Poling answered the timing argument by pointing to Jones’s October 1, 2025 arrest as evidence that he still possessed the image after the law took effect. Magistrate Dyer sided with the prosecution at the probable cause stage and bound the second charge over to the grand jury.⁶

Bond and Conditions

Magistrate Benjamin Shepler initially set bond at $50,000 cash-only on the solicitation count.² After the November hearing, Dyer declined to reduce that amount and set a second $50,000 cash-only bond on the new charge, bringing the total to $100,000. If Jones ever posts bail, he is barred from contact with anyone under 18, and his use of electronic devices must be monitored.⁶

Penalties Under the Statutes

Soliciting a minor by computer under West Virginia Code § 61-3C-14b is a felony for anyone over 18 who knowingly uses a computer to solicit, entice, seduce, or lure a minor into illegal sexual acts. A conviction carries up to a $5,000 fine, two to ten years in prison, or both. If the defendant takes an overt act to enter the minor’s physical presence intending prohibited activity, the penalty rises to up to $25,000 and five to thirty years.⁹

The distribution and exhibition count under § 61-8C-3, as amended in 2025 to cover AI-generated imagery, carries up to a $20,000 fine, one to ten years in prison, or both.⁷

Where the Case Stands

Both felony counts have been bound over to a Randolph County grand jury. Jones remains in custody at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail, and trial is set for October 2026.¹ Local news outlets have described him as the former pastor of Summit Church since the November hearing, indicating he no longer serves in that role.⁶

1
WKMZ News. Additional Criminal Charge Filed Against Elkins Pastor
2
News and Sentinel. Elkins Pastor Arrested for Allegedly Soliciting a Minor
3
WDTV. Elkins Pastor Arrested Soliciting Minor via Computer
4
WBOY. Elkins Pastor Charged With Sex Crimes Against Minors Appears in Court
5
The Inter-Mountain. Former Pastor’s Soliciting a Minor Case Headed to Grand Jury
6
The Inter-Mountain. Probable Cause Found in Hearing
7
West Virginia Legislature. Senate Bill 198
8
West Virginia Legislature. WV Code § 61-8C-3
9
FindLaw. WV Code § 61-3C-14b