HS man arrested on multiple counts involving child porn
A Hot Springs man was arrested Thursday on multiple counts involving child pornography after a family member reportedly found pornographic photos at his residence earlier this month.
Wayne Winford Weston, 57, of 158 Marion Anderson Road, was taken into custody at his residence and charged with 10 felony counts of distributing, possessing or viewing of matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
He remained in custody in lieu of $25,000 bond and appeared Friday in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on Monday,
Hot Springs police Lt.
Duane Tarbet, who is the police department’s coordinator with the Arkansas State Police Internet Crimes
Against Children Task
Force, was assigned a case on Weston based on a cyber-tip generated through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The tip was in reference to a hotline report in Hot Springs in which a local
man stated he had seen nude photos of young boys while at Weston’s residence on Marion Anderson. Tarbet made contact with the man, who stated he had previously lived with Weston and on May 9, he and a friend were moving his belongings out of the house.
He said he accidentally knocked over a box and a magazine fell to the floor. Inside the magazine were printed photos of nude young males who did not appear to be adults. He said he hid the photos that day, but on May 11, he made a call to NCMEC and reported the incident.
Tarbet asked him if he could provide the photos and later that day, the man brought in a folder full of photos. Tarbet noted the photos appeared to be printed copies from a computer and in some it was difficult to determine the age of the subjects in the photos.
However, he found nine color photos and one black and white photo of nude young males between the ages of 12 and 15. The boys were pictured involved in sexually explicit acts, he noted. A warrant was issued Wednesday for Weston’s arrest.