A 22-year-old Heber Springs man was arrested Tuesday in connection with a federal indictment charging him with the sexual exploitation of five girls between the ages of 13 and 16.
Upon the arrest of Spencer Goudy, a seven-count indictment handed up July 7 by a federal grand jury in Little Rock was unsealed. It charges Goudy with four counts of enticement of a minor to engage in a sex act, two counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
According to a news release from U.S. Attorney Chris Thyer and Cindy Johnson -- the acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans -- the investigation began in May 2014 when a 13-year-old girl told investigators with the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division that she was having a sexual relationship with Goudy. The report led to Goudy's arrest in Cleburne County on a charge of rape of a minor less than 14 years old.
A cellphone seized from Goudy during his May 2014 arrest on the rape charge led to a federal search warrant, and a search of the phone showed that Goudy was using it to entice underage girls to engage in sex acts, according to the news release. It notes that further analysis of Goudy's phone revealed several images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The indictment accuses Goudy of enticing one girl, identified only as Jane Doe 1, to engage in sexual activity that constituted rape under state law from March through May of last year. It accuses him of enticing three other girls, also identified as Jane Does, to engage in sexual activity constituting fourth-degree sexual assault from January through May of last year. It further accuses him of enticing one of those girls, and a fifth girl, to engage in sexually explicit conduct from January through May of last year for the purpose of producing child pornography.
The final charge accuses Goudy of knowingly possessing with the intent to view child pornography on May 28, 2014.
Goudy is also charged in White County with rape of a minor less than 14 years of age.
"With the advancement of technology and social media, there are now countless ways children can be exploited," Thyer said. "The arrest of Mr. Goudy today highlights that sad fact and should be another reminder to parents to keep an open dialogue with their children about their use of technology and social media. Our office will continue to prosecute individuals like Mr. Goudy who take advantage of and prey on the vulnerability of children."
Johnson added, "Individuals who produce child pornography are directly responsible for what is, in plain language, the rape of children. These criminal acts steal the innocence of victims and destroy lives."
Noting that "sexual abuse scars children for life," she said Homeland Security will continue "to use all the tools in its arsenal to identify the perpetrators of these horrendous acts and seek justice on behalf of all their victims."
Each of the enticement charges is punishable by 10 years to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The child-pornography production charges are each punishable by 15 years to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The possession charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and, again, a fine of up to $250,000.
The investigation that led to the federal indictment was conducted by the Heber Springs Police Department, the Arkansas State Police and Homeland Security investigators. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant.
Metro on 07/15/2015