Farmington man accused of internet stalking of a child

BENTONVILLE — A Farmington man was arrested after being accused of having inappropriate communications with a girl and then an undercover police officer pretending to be a child, according to court documents filed April 9.

Edward Hahling, 34, of 302 S. Emerald Woods Run in Farmington, was arrested April 5 in connection with two counts of internet stalking of a child, possession or use of child sexual abuse material and sexual grooming of a child. He was being held Wednesday, April 10 in the Benton County Jail with a $250,000 bond set.

Rogers police started investigating April 3 after receiving a complaint concerning a girl receiving text messages from an unknown person, according to the probable cause affidavit.

One of the messages from the person later identified as Hahling told the girl it was a random number and wanted to know if she wanted to be a friend, according to the affidavit. She told Hahling her age, which is redacted from the affidavit, and he responded he liked her age and wanted to know if she wanted to meet and have sex.

The affidavit claims Hahling told the girl he is 33 years old and lives in Farmington and again asked if she wanted to meet for sex and asked where she lived.

Hahling asked the girl not to call law enforcement, ghost him or cheat on him, according to the affidavit.

The girl reported Hahling sent an image of a young female she said was an AI-generated picture of herself and Hahling asked her to send him pictures of her, according to the affidavit.

Hahling sent the girl a photo of his face and exposed penis, the affidavit states.

A Rogers police detective started communicating with Hahling and pretended to be a friend of the girl, the affidavit states.

Hahling started communicating with the detective and asked her to send him “a sexy picture” of her in her underwear because an undercover police officer could not send him those images, the affidavit says.

Hahling sent more photographs of himself and sexually explicit messages to the detective, according to the affidavit.

The detective and Hahling discussed meeting, and Hahling asked her to bring him her dirty underwear and a jacket, according to the affidavit. He also sent the girl a link where she could see pornographic videos, the affidavit states. He asked again for a nude image and claimed it would put his mind at ease because undercover officers cannot show nudity and he did not want to be labeled as a pedophile or go to jail, according to the affidavit.

Rogers and Farmington police detectives set up to meet Hahling at a store in Farmington, the affidavit states. The detectives ended up going to Hahling’s home and arresting him.

Hahling told police his mother had guardianship over him due to his mental status and he had been found incompetent in another state and had the mind of a child, according to the affidavit.

He told police he has a hard time making friends and he would never hurt anyone. Hahling wanted to know if police could issue him a warning because he had learned his lesson, the affidavit states.

Hahling was arrested in

California in connection with sending harmful material to seduce a minor; threaten crime with intent to terrorize; stalking; annoying or molesting a child under 18; and vandalism, the affidavit states. The case was possibly a result of an undercover investigation, but the prosecution was suspended due to Hahling being mentally incompetent.

Hahling’s arraignment is set for 8 a.m. May 13 in Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren’s court.

Hahling was ordered if released on bond not to have unsupervised contact with any minors and to be prohibited from having any internet access.

Hahling