Assistant Kanawha County Public Defender Suspended
- {West Virginia}...Steven Conifer, 31, an assistant Kanawha County public defender, was arraigned Wednesday afternoon iand released on $5,000 bond after being arrested on charges that he was pimping out young boys over the internet. Conifer maintained his innocence and said he would be cleared of the charges in court. Police executed a search warrant on his Charleston apartment last week and found he allegedly had several online conversations about child prostitution, including instant messages with someone using the screen name "derekscarbor93" offering to provide young boys to another man for sexual uses. The user named "derekcarbor93" was allegedly linked to Conifer's residence through the computer's IP address after a New Jersey man who had received the messages contacted his local police department. Conifer is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing early next month. Conifer has been suspended.
