Child-porn sentence 20 years
In deal, Hot Springs Village man gets 26 counts withdrawn
A Hot Springs Village man was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to four felony counts involving child pornography.
Daniel Allen Kimball, 56, who has remained in custody since his arrest Dec. 3, 2019, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to four counts of distributing, possessing or viewing of matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, while 26 additional counts of the same charge were withdrawn.
Kimball was sentenced to five years in prison on each of the four counts, to run consecutively, for a total of 20 years. He will be given credit for time served, which expunged any court costs, but he will have to register as a sex offender after his release.
“Protecting our children from predators is the single most important duty I have as attorney general,” Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said in a news release Wednesday.
“Child predators continue to encourage the grotesque cycle of child sexual abuse and victimization every time they share these horrific videos of innocent kids being forced to engage in unspeakable acts. This is why my office works tirelessly to ensure that these criminals are arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned to the fullest extent of the law.”
During an undercover operation, the attorney general’s Cyber Crimes Unit identified a computer in Arkansas that was offering to participate in the distribution of child pornography, according to a probable-cause affidavit.
On Oct. 7, 2019, agents served a subpoena to Suddenlink Communications, the internet service provider for the IP address.
The subpoena requested the subscriber records for the IP address, which returned to a residence on Pyreness Way in Hot Springs Village.
On Dec. 3, 2019, agents from the attorney general’s office took a search warrant to the residence and interviewed Kimball. Kimball disclosed “he had been distributing, viewing and was in possession of child pornography.”
During a search of Kimball’s laptop computer, agents reported finding 30 images and videos “depicting children being sexually exploited” in his saved files. Kimball was taken into custody and initially held without bail. Bail was later set at $50,000, and he has remained in custody since then.
Kimball, who listed no criminal history, pleaded innocent to the charges on Jan. 13, 2020, and a motion for a bail reduction was denied by former Judge John Homer Wright. The case was continued several times but was finally set for a disposition hearing on Monday.
Rutledge on Wednesday also cited the March 16 sentencing of Mark Burke White, 35, formerly of Hot Springs Village. White pleaded guilty to four of 30 felony counts involving child pornography and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and must also register as a sex offender upon his release.
On Feb. 26, 2018, agents from the Cyber Crimes Unit and officers from the Hot Springs Village Police Department took a search warrant to White’s residence on Peral Circle and arrested White after finding a laptop and an external hard drive with numerous videos involving child pornography.
Assistant Attorney General Jill Irwin from the Cyber Crimes Unit was special prosecutor in both cases.