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Sentences ordered in child abuse, fraud cases

WELLSBURG — Sentences were ordered on Monday for a Wellsburg man accused of sexually abusing a child in his care and three men accused of defrauding a scrap metal business of thousands of dollars.

Charles Franklin Dobbs, 77, of Wellsburg, was sentenced by 1st Judicial Circuit Court Judge Ronald Wilson to three years of supervised probation and one year of extended supervision after pleading guilty to one count of sexual abuse by a custodian.

He also will be required to register as a sexual offender for life.

Dobbs had faced 10 to 20 years in prison for the crime. Other counts of sexual abuse by a custodian were dismissed through a plea agreement entered by Edward Gillison, his attorney; and the Brooke County Prosecutor’s Office.

Assistant Brooke County Prosecutor Allison Cowden said the victim had asked Dobbs not serve jail time but had requested he be sentenced to home confinement with electronic monitoring.

Sentences also were ordered by Wilson for three men involved in the embezzlement of a Colliers business.

Dennis Kinkela, 45, of Slovan, Pa., was sentenced to one to 10 years in prison for grand larceny and one to five years for conspiring, with the two sentences to be served concurrently, after pleading guilty to the two crimes.

Kinkela’s jail time is to be followed by seven years of probation.

Jamie K. Eltringham, 26, of Follansbee, was sentenced to one year in jail and five years of probation including one year of home confinement after pleading guilty to embezzlement and conspiring.

And Matthew S. Forester, 38, of Follansbee, has been sentenced to five years of probation, including one year of home confinement, after pleading guilty to embezzlement.

Kinkela and Eltringham have been ordered to pay $80,000 in restitution, and Forester has been ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution, all to Metalico/All-American Recycling.

According to court documents, Eltringham and Forrester worked for the recycling business when they falsified records to show Kinkela had brought far more scrap metal there than he had, with Kinkela sharing proceeds from the erroneous transactions with the two.

At a previous hearing, Brooke County Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Barki told the court the three are believed to have engaged in more than 200 fraudulent transactions totaling more than $500,000.

He added the loss, detected later through inventories and video cameras, resulted in cuts in staffing and wages for the business.

According to indictments returned against the three by a Brooke County grand jury, the fraud occurred during a six-month period in 2023.

Sentences for the three men were the result of plea agreements reached between the prosecutor’s office and their attorneys, with a lighter sentence sought for Forester because he had cooperated with the investigation.

The case was investigated by the Brooke County Sheriff’s Department.

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