Farmington man sentenced for child porn

FAYETTEVILLE — A Farmington man was sentenced Thursday to federal prison for child pornography.

Howard Christopher Melton, 36, was sentenced to 80 months followed by 10 years of supervised release on one count of receipt of child pornography. Melton also must pay $3,600 in fines.

The Northwest Arkansas Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce received a cyber tip in August from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about an individual, later identified as Melton, using a Twitter account to upload images of child pornography to the Internet, according to court records.

Officers searched Melton’s residence, and a computer hard drive yielded numerous images depicting child pornography. Homeland Security agents interviewed Melton on Nov. 21, and he admitted he was searching for, downloading, receiving and saving child pornography from the Internet. Melton was indicted in January and pleaded guilty in March.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Denis Dean prosecuted the case. U.S. District Judge Tim Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing.