FAYETTEVILLE — A Bella Vista man was sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison Tuesday for downloading child pornography.
Nicholas Jacob Harper was sentenced to 121 months in prison, fined $20,000 and ordered to serve 20 years supervised probation upon release. He also must complete mental health treatment, only have supervised contact with children and cannot have Internet access without permission from a probation officer.
Harper pleaded guilty to one count of a five-count indictment in June. The plea was conditional so Harper can appeal a ruling on his motion to suppress evidence, which was denied.
Court documents state Harper was downloading child porn through a neighbor's unsecured wireless router in July 2012.
The federal Crimes Against Children Task Force determined child pornography was being downloaded and, after searching the neighborhood and finding Harper, found images of children being sexually abused on his computer.
NW News on 04/03/2014