BENTONVILLE — A Pea Ridge man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of possessing child pornography.
Roy Gene Landis’ arrest was in connection with distributing, possessing or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, a Class C felony punishable with a prison sentence ranging from three to 10 years.
Landis was being held Wednesday in the Benton County Jail with no bond set.
The arrest was the culmination of an extensive investigation by the Bentonville Police Department’s Digital Forensics Investigative Unit, according to a news release.
The case began after Landis took his computer to a repair shop in Bentonville and the technician was attempting to save the data when he saw what he suspected was child pornography and Bentonville police werecalled, according to an a◊- davit of probable cause.
Police seized the computer tower and hard drive, according to court documents. Police found 39 images and two videos depicting children between the ages 6 and 10 engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The images and videos were downloaded between Aug. 7, 2006, and June 15, 2008. All the images were located under Landis’ profile, according to courtdocuments.
Landis told Mike Stegall, a Bentonville police detective, that child pornography might be on the computer.
Landis told Stegall that material was downloaded several years ago and Landis could not remember where he got the material from, according to court documents.
Landis’ arraignment is scheduled for 8 a.m. Dec. 9 in Circuit Judge Brad Karren’s court.
News, Pages 1 on 11/06/2013