Man Accused Of Possessing Child Porn

BENTONVILLE — A Bentonville man claims he learned a search term to download child pornography while serving on jury duty, according to court documents.

Wesi Robinson, 34, was arrested Tuesday in connection with 30 counts of distributing, possessing or viewing matter depicting sexually conduct involving a child, a Class C felony.

Robinson admitted to downloading child pornography for the last two years, according to court documents.

At A Glance

The Charge

Distributing, possessing, or viewing matter depicting sexually conduct involving a child is a Class C felony and punishable with a prison sentence ranging from three to 10 years.

Source: Staff Report

Robinson said he had been addicted to pornography since he was 13 years old and had grown tired of the “same old stuff.” He progressed to child erotica and eventually to child pornography, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Robinson said he had learned a search term while serving on jury duty and he used it to search the Internet for females younger than age 18, according to the probable cause affidavit. Robinson said he also searched for videos of pre-pubescent female children, according to court documents.

Robinson said he saved images on external hard drives, and he destroyed several hard drives over the last two years after becoming ashamed and embarrassed of the videos he was collecting. He would start over again with a new hard drive, according to the affidavit.

Agents with the Attorney General’s Cyber Crimes Unit searched Robinson’s home Wednesday, according to a news release. Investigators seized two computers, among other electronic evidence. Mike Lett, a special agent, began to investigate Robinson last month after suspecting child pornography was being possessed at his home.

Lett found 25 videos depicting pre-pubescent children engaged in sexually explicit activities were downloaded from Robinson’s Internet protocol address between Nov. 5 to Nov. 26, according to court documents.

Robinson surrendered a 500 gigabyte external hard drive that contained several hundred suspected child pornography videos and images. Another hard drive that contained similar files also was found, according to court documents.

Robinson appeared in court Thursday morning for a bond hearing.

George McManus, Robinson’s attorney, asked the court to set a bond at $20,000. Robinson would agree to have no Internet access as condition of his bond, McManus said.

McManus told Circuit Judge Brad Karren that Robinson has lived in Northwest Arkansas for nine years and is employed.

Stuart Cearley, chief deputy prosecutor, asked Karren to order Robinson not to have any unsupervised contact with any minors.

Robinson’s bond was set at $25,000.

Karren ordered Robinson not to have any access to the Internet, computers, smart phones or laptop computers in his home. Robinson can have Internet access if he is at work, Karren said.

Robinson’s arraignment is set for 8 a.m. Jan. 27 in Karren’s court.

Robinson has not been a juror in Benton County, according to records with the Benton County Circuit Clerk’s Office.

Upcoming Events