A Searcy County man, 66-year-old Frank Thomas Nance of St. Joe, has been sentenced to 68 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction without the possibility of parole through a negotiated plea.
Nance entered his guilty plea in Marion County Circuit Court Wednesday.
Nance was arrested in April 2018 on a bench warrant on five counts of distributing/possessing/viewing matter depicting child sex. Online court records indicate the number of charges grew to a combined 51 sexually-related violations, including 14 for rape and 18 for sexual assault. Two of the violations represent a combined 1,672 counts.
The probable cause affidavit and other information in the case were sealed in June 2018 at the request of then Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kenford Carter at the direction of 14th Judicial District Prosecutor David Ethredge. In the request to seal the documents, Carter noted if released to the public, they could compromise an ongoing investigation.
At the time of Nance’s arrest, the affidavit noted an investigator with the Crimes Against Children Division of the Arkansas State Police executed a search warrant in August 2017 at the St. Joe man’s residence. A number of electronic devices were seized.
An investigation by the Arkansas State Police of the seized items determined a user profile, believed to be associated with Nance, downloaded, stored and viewed child abuse material.
Marion County Sheriff Clinton Evans said at the time of Nance’s arrest a patrol sergeant with his department was in the Yellville area and recognized the Searcy County man at the rear of a business. The sheriff’s officer was aware Nance had a Marion County warrant out for his arrest. He was taken into custody without incident, with assistance from ASP.
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