Man, 41, arrested in child porn case

BENTONVILLE — A Decatur man suspected the 13-year-old girl he was communicating with online was a police officer, but he continued to have sexually explicit conversations with her, according to a probable cause affidavit released Friday.

Casey Rhodes, 41, was arrested Tuesday in connection with computer child pornography. He’s being held in the Benton County Jail on a $40,000 bond.

A Rogers police officer was acting as a 13-year-old girl when he responded to a post on Craigslist, according to a probable cause affidavit.

A person replied saying he was 41, male and from Decatur, according to the affidavit. The officer said he lived in Fayetteville with her parents and was bored, according to the affidavit.

The two continued communicating. Rhodes hesitated at one point because he thought the person he was communicating with was

“acting like a cop,” according to the affidavit.

Rhodes said his name was Jim. He asked the “girl” to write his name on a piece of paper, take a photograph of herself with the paper and send it to him to prove she wasn’t a police officer, according to the affidavit.

The officer sent a photograph to Rhodes, the affidavit states. The documents don’t explain who posed as the girl.

The officer requested a photograph of Rhodes. He sent a photograph of himself, and the officer compared the photograph to Rhodes’ driver’s license photograph, according to the affidavit.

Rhodes’ arraignment is scheduled for 8 a.m. Jan. 6 in Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green’s court.

Rhodes