WINFIELD, W.Va. -- A Sandyville man was arrested Monday and charged with alleged sexual abuse of two juveniles in Eleanor.
Donald K. Springsteadah, 45, allegedly abused his girlfriend's juvenile relative and the relative's juvenile friend, according to a criminal complaint filed in Putnam County Magistrate Court.
He is charged with two counts of sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, custodian or person in a position of trust.
On Jan. 27, Eleanor police received information from state Child Protective Services about a complaint that Springsteadah was having a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old girl and a friend who had stayed the night, according to the complaint.
When police interviewed Springsteadah and the juveniles, they denied the sexual abuse claims, the complaint states. However, police say the next day the juvenile who had spent the night at Springsteadah's house said Springsteadah had told both girls to "kiss him on the lips," and showed them pornographic images on television before masturbating in front of them.
Springsteadah also has been charged with two counts of using obscene matter with the intent to seduce a minor child.
The complaint states that Springsteadah sent a text message that night asking his girlfriend's relative not to tell what had happened.
On Jan. 31, police seized three cellphones, two computers, cameras, and other items from Springsteadah's home and sent them to the Kanawha Bureau of Investigation, the complaint states.
After analyzing the phone, police say in the complaint, the dialogue the juvenile friend described was true, and messages were found discussing masturbation and kissing, among other things.
Police also say they recovered a recorded phone conversation from May between the two juvenile girls discussing what happened that night, and, among other things, that the juvenile relative of Springsteadah's girlfriend told her friend "she wouldn't get pregnant by the defendant because he promised her she wouldn't," according to the complaint.
Springsteadah was being held in the Western Regional Jail on a $250,000 bail.

