McDowell County Man Charged With Soliciting Minor for Sexual Activity

William Woodrow Ball, 39, of Premier was charged with soliciting a minor via computer after the McDowell County Sheriff's Office received a complaint connecting him to a 15-year-old girl. In the criminal complaint, Deputy Dalton Martin said Ball admitted to the crime during an interview. Martin also reported finding screenshots of Ball and the girl, who stated she was 15 years old. Ball was booked into Southwestern Regional Jail on a $25,000 bond.

The investigation opened after the McDowell County Sheriff's Office received the initial complaint against Ball. Martin reviewed the digital record and found screenshots documenting Ball's contact with the girl who had identified her age as 15. When Ball was interviewed, he admitted to the offense, a statement Martin included in the criminal complaint. The combination of the screenshots and Ball's own admission gave investigators a preserved digital record alongside a direct statement from the suspect.

Ball's case was not the only recent matter involving a McDowell County man and alleged sexual crimes against a minor. In McDowell County, North Carolina, 38-year-old Justin Michael Adkins, a registered sex offender on probation, was charged with second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. A detective with the McDowell County Sheriff's Office and NC Probation/Parole Officers found incriminating evidence on Adkins' electronic devices on November 8, 2023, during a routine check. The North Carolina McDowell County Sheriff's Office said a warrant was issued prior to his arrest on January 3rd. Adkins' status as a registered sex offender subject to probation conditions made his devices available for routine law enforcement review, a check that surfaced the alleged evidence. Details in the Adkins case remained limited because the incident involved juveniles.

A Lootpress report, citing McDowell County deputies in West Virginia, described an additional incident in which a man allegedly offered a 14-year-old girl money in exchange for sexual acts during an early morning encounter. That account named no suspect and included no bond or custody information. The victim age it cited, 14, conflicts with the 15-year-old referenced in Ball's criminal complaint; no official source had publicly resolved the discrepancy.

Both the West Virginia and North Carolina cases rested substantially on electronic evidence. Martin found screenshots in the Ball investigation, while Adkins' alleged conduct surfaced during a routine probation device check rather than through a new outside complaint. In the Adkins investigation, a standard compliance visit by law enforcement and probation officers was enough to generate new criminal charges against a man already on the sex-offender registry.

Ball was held at Southwestern Regional Jail on $25,000 bond as the West Virginia case moved toward court. Adkins faced prosecution in North Carolina.