A Mountain Home man charged with 50 counts of possessing, distributing or viewing child pornography is set to appear in Baxter County Circuit Court February 5.
In addition, 26-year-old Shane Anthony Casal was recently given 5 years in prison followed by 10 years probation on similar charges brought against him in Crawford County.
Casal’s guilty plea in Crawford County was handed down January 23. A hold was put on him by Baxter County and he was ordered to show up for court and face the charges here.
According to court records, Casal registered as a sex offender in Colorado in 2017 after he pled guilty to “forced sexual assault” involving a teenage female.
BAXTER COUNTY CHARGES
Investigations in both counties ran along parallel tracks in that Casal had moved to an address in Mountain Home on June 20 last year from Crawford County.
A special agent with the Arkansas State Police in western Arkansas reported to a counterpart in this area that he had obtained an arrest warrant for Casal in Crawford County alleging that he had uploaded child sexual abuse material (CSAM) onto electronic devices in his possession.
As investigators went through files Casal is alleged to have uploaded, they discovered a “mix” of videos and images with file names “suggestive” of child pornography.
In the probable cause affidavit, it is noted that more than 2,200 videos and other images were found.
A search warrant was served on Casal’s Mountain Home residence August 3 last year.
On August 9, material stored on electronic devices belonging to Casal was extracted and reviewed. According to the probable cause affidavit, many videos and pictures depicting pre-pubescent children involved in sexual activity were found.
CRAWFORD COUNTY
The investigation into Casal’s activities began in Crawford County in mid-April 2023 when the sheriff’s office received a referral from the Greenwood Police Department (GPD).
The GPD had been notified that the Center for Missing and Exploited Children had obtained information that Casal was alleged to have uploaded suspected child sexual abuse material (CSAM)onto a platform on two different occasions in 2022.
The electronic devices used to obtain the pornographic material were traced to Wave Rural Connect and then to Casal’s address in Uniontown.
It was also discovered that Casal was a registered sex offender in Arkansas because of the attempted sexual assault conviction in Colorado.
The address Casal used in completing the documentation to register in Arkansas showed the address in Uniontown and he is reported to have registered with the Mountain Home Police Department after moving here.
During the investigation, it was determined that Casal had moved twice since the initial notice to the sheriff’s office in Crawford County about the suspected (CSAM).
His first move was from Uniontown to an address in Greenwood and then to the residence along Cardinal Drive in Mountain Home.
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