HOPE, Ark.–A man accused of keeping a large stash of child pornography on his cell phone is being held in the Hempstead County jail with bail set at $250,000.
Jimmy Lane Hughes, 23, of McCaskill, Ark., was taken into custody by Arkansas State Police investigators June 7 and has been charged by prosecutors with 100 counts of child pornography possession, court records show. Offensive images of young children engaged in sexually oriented activity which were being uploaded through Discord were reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
NCMEC reported the images to the Arkansas State Police in May and by early June, investigators had locked on to Hughes’ email address and phone number, according to a probable cause affidavit. Hughes’ cell phone was seized by investigators June 5 and a forensic evaluation allegedly revealed hundreds of images of children being sexually abused and exploited.
One of the images involved a toddler holding the genitals of two men in his hands, the affidavit alleges.
Each of the 100 counts are punishable by three to ten years in prison and a fine up to $10,000, if there is a conviction. Hughes has been in jail since the time of his arrest. Should he manage to post bond on his $250,000 bail, Hughes is prohibited from using the internet, according to court records.
