BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

PIKEVILLE — A federal grand jury indicted a Martin County man for allegedly producing and distributing child pornography.

Donald York, 59, of Beauty, was indicted June 9 in Pikeville on two counts of production of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography.

The indictment accuses York of coercing a girl to engage in a sexual act, which he recorded on a cellphone in December 2019 and again in January 2020. It also accuses him of distributing child porn in January 2020.

York was arrested June 11 and lodged in the Pike County Detention Center.

On Tuesday, he appeared for a detention hearing before Judge Edward B. Atkins in U.S. District Court in Pikeville and will remain in custody “pending further order of the court.”

Judge Atkins set York’s trial for Aug. 25 in Pikeville.

York, the owner/publisher of the online news site, The Mountain Wolf, was indicted in August 2021 in Martin County on first-degree rape of a minor, first-degree unlawful transaction with a minor, second-degree unlawful transaction with a minor, and possession/viewing matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor.

The Martin County grand jury accused York of engaging in sexual intercourse with a female child July 10, 2020, causing the minor to ingest non-prescribed Gabapentin and use marijuana, and possessing/viewing matters that visually depicted a sexual performance by a minor.

On Thursday, Martin Circuit Judge John David Preston set a status hearing in the state case for Dec. 14.