May 1, 2023, News Release

Louisa Commonwealth’s Attorney Rusty McGuire announced that David E. Edwards, 51, was convicted of 50 counts of possession of child pornography also known as “Child Sexual Abuse Material.”  Edwards faces up to 255 years in prison when he is sentenced on July 17, 2023.

The Louisa County Sheriff’s Office received a Cyber Tip as a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children in winter of 2022.  A technology company identified Stone’s illegal online behavior on their network and forwarded the information to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).   NCMEC developed a Cyber Tip that included a cellular phone number and an email address and sent them to the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (SOVA.)  SOVA identified the suspected account owner as a David Stone in Louisa County.  On January 24, 2023, Detectives of the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office executed a Search Warrant on the Defendant’s residence.

During the execution of the search warrant, they seized digital media storage devices to include a tablet from the Defendant’s bedroom.  Detective Mark Stanton conducted a digital forensic examination of the tablet the next day and identified the 50 images that included infants being sexually assaulted.  Detective Stanton called McGuire who recommended taking out 50 warrants immediately.  The Louisa County Sheriff’s Office learned Stone was a member of law enforcement in a city and contacted his department and they arrested Stone when he showed up for duty that night.  He has been held in continuous custody.

On speaking about the convictions McGuire said “nobody is above the law and this case sends a message to not exploit children in Louisa.  It was sad to hear that the Defendant was a member of law enforcement and we know his behavior does not represent the thousands of men and women who do the right thing daily for our communities.  However, when there is a bad apple, we will swiftly hold them accountable.  People think they can out tech technology, but this is a case that demonstrates you will get caught no matter who you are.”

Morgane Harper who prosecuted this case with McGuire said, “we are thankful to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Richmond Police Department, and the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office for all of their teamwork and bringing this case to a successful resolution.”