Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Man accused of possessing child porn
Police: Nearly 600 images of child sexual abuse material found on devices
BENTONVILLE — A Fayetteville man is accused of possessing hundreds of images of child pornography.
Kevin Lewis, 41, was booked Tuesday into the Benton County Jail. He was arrested in connection with 597 counts of distributing, possessing or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child.
Prosecutors haven’t filed any formal charges against Lewis. He’s being held in jail on $500,000 bond.
His arrest is the result of an investigation by Bentonville and Lowell police officers, according to a probable cause affidavit. Police seized several electronic devices as part of a drug investigation and search of Lewis’ car, according to the affidavit.
He was arrested in May in connection with drug charges — a case that is still pending — and another electronic device belonging to Lewis was signed out of the jail by an associate of Lewis, according to the affidavit.
The cellphone was turned over to Fayetteville police after the person discovered the lock screen wallpaper on the device was an image of a child performing a sex act on a man, according to the affidavit. The phone eventually was transferred to Bentonville police for a digital forensic examination, the affidavit states.
Police talked with several people familiar with Lewis, who indicated Lewis exposed children to pornography and attempted to entice children into participating in sexual conduct, according to the affidavit.
Police found messages on the devices where Lewis admitted he enjoyed watching child pornography, and in one exchange, he expressed interest in viewing a video showing the rape and murder of a child, according to the affidavit. Lewis admitted in one message to having child pornography as his screen saver and attempting to entice a neighbor’s child over to his house, according to the affidavit.
Police found 597 images of child sexual abuse material on three of the devices, the affidavit states.
Lewis admitted to police to downloading and distributing child pornography, according to the affidavit. He denied ever being involved in the production of child pornography, according to the affidavit.
He told police the image of child pornography on his phone screen saver had been there for three years, according to the affidavit.
Lewis’ arraignment is scheduled for 8 a. m. Nov. 21 in Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green’s courtroom. If convicted, Lewis could be sentenced from 3 to 10 years in prison for each charge.