Ronald Herbert Mitchell of Lakeview was given five years in prison during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday, after pleading guilty to 34 counts of distributing, possessing or viewing child pornography.
The 58-year-old Mitchell was arrested following an investigation launched in May last year. Information was received by the Arkansas State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Division from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicating an image of suspected child pornography had been uploaded to a specific Internet Protocol (IP) address eventually traced to Mitchell. The image involved in the upload was reported to have shown two juvenile females standing near water. They were naked and holding hands, according to investigators.
A search warrant was obtained in June last year to search Mitchell’s residence. The warrant was executed at the home in the early morning hours of June 14th.
A laptop computer was seized during the search. It was taken to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory. Technicians at the ACL reported finding 44 pictures, three videos and other evidence of suspected child pornography on the computer. A number of VHS tapes were also found in two locations in the house during the search, but court records indicate no images of child pornography were found on the VHS tapes.
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