Discovery of child porn images leads to arrest of area man

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The discovery of 30 images of child pornography on a smartphone led to the arrest of a Stone County man. Thirty-nine-year-old Chad Lowe of Mountain View was arrested by Izard County authorities on Thursday and is currently in the Izard County Detention Center with a hold for the Mountain View Police Department.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Mountain View investigators received a cyber tip from the Arkansas State Police’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program. The tip was originally submitted by an electronic service provider known as KiK to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. KiK reported 30 images flagged as child pornography sent from a cellphone from July 17 to August 14. Investigators looked into the locations, dates and times of the image transfers provided by KiK. One location reportedly had a camera and allowed investigators to identify a vehicle, leading to Lowe’s identity.

Lowe was questioned at the Mountain View Police Department on September 14. He reportedly confessed to using two cellphones and logging into KiK by using the free WiFi at the identified location and using the app to share images with other individuals he didn’t know. Lowe also told investigators some images are in a secure folder on his cellphone. He also claimed to locate another phone with images he sent of a young girl. Investigators allege 85 images and 38 videos containing child pornography were identified between both devices.

Lowe is facing 30 felony counts of distributing, possessing or viewing of matter depicting sexually-explicit conduct involving a child and a penalty enhancement as convicted felon.

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