Man gets 30 years in child-porn case

BENTONVILLE — A Siloam Springs man pleaded guilty last week to 10 charges related to child pornography and one of video voyeurism and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Donald Ray Thele, 44, was arrested April 28 and charged with 10 counts of distributing, possession or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, a Class C felony; and video voyeurism, a Class D felony. Thele had been free on $50,000 bond since his arraignment in June.

Thele was arrested after an investigation by the Benton County sheriff’s office. The investigation began after someone gave Lt. Greg Stevenson a thumb drive containing images of children who appeared to range in age from 6 to 17 engaging in sexually explicit activities, according to court records. Thele’s tax documents also were found on the thumb drive, according to the records.

Investigators obtained a search warrant for Thele’s home and seized multiple digital devices, including a cellphone. More images of child pornography were found on the cellphone, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

The phone also contained images that appeared to have been taken with a hidden camera that showed a female in a bathtub, according to the affidavit. Thele admitted recording the images in the bathroom and said the female was unaware she was being recorded, according to court documents.

Thele was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Jan. 4, according to court records. He was ordered to have no contact with one victim, identified in court records only by initials, and to have no unsupervised contact with any children. He will be required to register as a sex offender.

Upcoming Events