FAYETTEVILLE -- A Farmington man was sentenced to federal prison for child pornography on Thursday.
Howard Christopher Melton, 36, was sentenced to 80 months followed by 10 years of supervised release on one count of receipt of child pornography. Melton also must pay $3,600 in fines.
The Northwest Arkansas Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce received a cyber tip in August 2016 from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about an individual, later identified as Melton, using a Twitter account to upload images of child pornography to the Internet, according to court records.
Officers searched Melton 's residence and a computer hard drive yielded numerous images depicting child pornography. Homeland Security investigators agents interviewed Melton on Nov. 21, and he admitted searching for, downloading, receiving and saving child pornography from the Internet.
Melton was indicted in January and plead guilty in March.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Denis Dean prosecuted the case. U.S. District Judge Tim Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing.
NW News on 07/22/2017