PRINCETON – A former Virginia corrections officer who was arrested in 2024 while traveling to his workplace in Bland County, Va. has been indicted on multiple felonies involving child pornography.
Christopher Erickson, 37, of Bluefield was indicted by the June 2025 Mercer County Grand Jury on charges including distribution and exhibition of material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct-over 600 images; distribution and exhibition of material depicting minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct-bestiality; and exhibition of material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct- more than 50 images but less than 600 images; and use of minors in filming sexually explicit conduct, according to the criminal docket issued by the Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Erickson was arrested in July 2024 while traveling to his workplace in Bland County, Va. Images were found a computer belonging to him, according to a criminal complaint filed by Capt. S.A. Sommers with the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department.
An investigation was started May 23, 2024 when Sommers received a National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Cyber Tip Line report for investigation. The reporting service provider was Yahoo, Inc., and the report stated that a registered user had uploaded, shared and possessed eight files of suspected child sexual abuse material, according to the criminal complaint. Yahoo supplied information including Erickson’s name and email address.
After further investigation, Sommers applied for and was granted a state’s search warrant by Circuit Court Judge William Sadler for Erickson’s home and served Yahoo with a search warrant that same day, according to the criminal complaint. Sommers said that after receiving records from Yahoo, they indicated that Erickson was “actively trading CSAM” (child sexual abuse material) on another platform.
With the assistance of other county, state and federal law enforcement officers, Sommers executed a search warrant at Erickson’s home in Bluefield.
The search warrant allowed the search and seizure of evidence relating to the possession, distribution and viewing of child sexual abuse material, Sommers said in the criminal complaint.
Sommers said that he performed a preliminary forensic examination of Erickson’s desktop computer and found “hundreds of digital video and picture files depicting pubescent and prepubescent children engaged in sexually-explicit conduct.”
Under the West Virginia Code, using of minors in filming sexually-explicit conduct carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 or both. Distribution and exhibiting of material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct carries a possible prison sentence of five to 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $25,000 or both.
Erickson is not currently employed with the Virginia Department of Corrections, according to Kyle Gibson, chief communication’s officer.
In another case, a Mercer County man was indicted on charges including first-degree robbery; child neglect creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury; and domestic assault, according to the criminal docket. The case occurred in March this year.
Cody Allen Runyon, 27, of Matoaka allegedly threatened people on March 16 with a firearm and fired shots in and around a home at Charles Grose Road near Matoaka after an argument, then taking cellphones from the people present and a car which had been loaned to them, according to the criminal complaint filed by Sgt. J.A. Conner with the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department.
Runyon was later seen walking down Charles Grose Road and was taken into custody without incident, according to the criminal complaint. He told deputies that he had wrecked the vehicle at Piedmont Road. Runyon said after being transported to the sheriff’s department that he never shot at anyone, but had shot once through the home’s floor, Conner said in the complaint. He then said that he only shot twice in the residence and both shots were in the floor. Four people, one of them a child, was in the home at that time.
Docket Day will be June 23 starting at 9:30 a.m., according to the Mercer County Circuit Clerk’s Office. The hearings will be before Circuit Court Judge Mark Wills at the Mercer County Courthouse. Hearings will be conducted in the courtroom of Circuit Court Judge William Sadler.
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