James Robert McKinney, 40, of Charleston, West Virginia, has pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). The plea was entered on September 26, 2025.
Court documents show that McKinney left West Virginia on March 28, 2025, without notifying authorities as required. He traveled by bus to New York and then to Tampa, Florida. While in Florida, he did not inform authorities of his presence or update his registration status. Law enforcement encountered McKinney on April 22, 2025, when he was found trespassing at a church in St. Petersburg, Florida. At the time of his arrest for trespassing, officers discovered his true identity using his West Virginia identification card after he initially gave false information.
McKinney was aware of his obligation to comply with SORNA due to a prior conviction for third-degree sexual assault in Doddridge County Circuit Court in 2012. At the time of this most recent offense, he was already on supervised release following an earlier guilty plea for failing to update his sex offender registration in federal court in the Southern District of West Virginia in March 2022. Additionally, McKinney has two previous convictions for not complying with state sex offender registration requirements.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 5, 2026. He faces up to ten years in prison, at least five years and potentially a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine up to $250,000.
“Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the United States Marshals Service (USMS).”
The hearing was overseen by United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan T. Storage is prosecuting the case.
SORNA is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 and establishes minimum standards for sex offender registration across U.S. jurisdictions. The law requires offenders to keep their registration current wherever they live, work or attend school.
Further details about this case are available from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia website and through PACER by searching Case No. 2:25-cr-130.
