FAYETTEVILLE — A 21-year-old Fayetteville man who had nude photos of his 15-year-old girlfriend on his cellphone avoided registration as a sex offender when prosecutors dropped a child pornography charge against him.
Blake Lee Foust pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of residential burglary in the case, but under a plea agreement with prosecutors, the charge of distributing, possessing or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit material involving a child was dropped.
Circuit Judge William Storey sentenced Foust to serve three months in jail and 10 years on probation. In addition, he ordered Foust to have no contact with the girl until she turns 18.
“This was a once-in-a-lifetime mistake,” Foust told the judge.
Police arrested Foust in January after Springdale police found him inside a car at Rotary Park with the girlfriend. While taking inventory of Foust’s car, his cellphone rang. Officers saw an image on the phone’s screen of the partially dressed girl. A later search of the phone turned up nude photos of the teen.
While that case was pending, he was released on bail and ordered not to have contact with the girl.
But on Feb. 29, he reportedly showed up at the girl’s home and went inside without the parents’ permission. He apologized to the girl and spent several minutes talking to her before leaving.
Foust’s attorney, deputy public defender Scott Parks, said Foust was evaluated by a therapist who found he posed no danger to children.
“He’s glad to have this behind him, and he won’t have the stigma of a sex offense conviction,” Parks said.
Denis Dean, deputy prosecutor, would not discuss the specifics of the plea agreement because the case involved a juvenile, but he cautioned parents to keep an eye on teens’ cellphones.
“Parents have every right to check on their teen’s phone for evidence of sexting,” he said, using a term frequently used to describe the exchange of sexual content on cellphones. “It’s something that’s very prevalent that people need to watch out for.”