JONESBORO, Ark. – A photo of a naked 8-9 year old girl was found on the cloud storage of a Jonesboro Police Department patrol officer, according to an incident just released to NEA Report by JPD.
The incident report begins on August 1, when JPD Detective Brandon King, who works on cyber crimes against children, received a tip from Arkansas State Police. A confirmed image of child pornography was discovered to be on a Verizon cellphone belonging to Adam W. Shipman, at the time a JPD patrol officer.
WARNING: GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION AHEAD
According to the incident report, the photo was of a young, white female, between 8 to 9 years old, laying completely nude on a blanket with her “chest and vaginal area clearly visible. Another slightly older nude white female is painting on her bare chest with a paintbrush.”
For safety reasons, officers asked Shipman to come to the police department on Aug. 9 to meet about the matter with a detective. Detective King met with the patrol officer in the parking lot and retrieved his cell phone. He asked Shipman to come to the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) to speak about a criminal matter. His duty weapon was removed once inside. They went to the interview room, where Shipman was read his rights and surprisingly, agreed to speak to the detective without an attorney present, according to the report.
“Shipman verbally stated that he was not responsible for the image of child pornography but from my training and experience with criminal interviews, I was able to note several signs of possible deception,” King wrote in the report. “I noted that Shipman’s phone had a 4-digit pass code but he declined to give it to me.”
Shipman reportedly told King an extensive list of people who knew the pass code, including his sister, his two brothers, his girlfriend, one-hundred or more members of his National guard unit, and numerous people including DWI suspects he had made contact with while on patrol. He said several of those may have had unrestricted, unfettered access to his phone but he never gave any specific instances of how.
“I asked him specifically if he lets suspects and random people he encounters on patrol walk out of sight with his cell phone and he stated that he likes to give them their privacy,” King noted.
Shipman said he also looks at pornography on his phone, searching terms like “young girls” and “younger looking,” on Google images.
The patrol officer then pointed the finger at his girlfriend, stating she was into “freaky” things and it would not surprise him if she was looking at young naked girls. Once again, he began naming others who might be responsible for the act. He also told the detective his friends liked to tease him about being attracted to children and that he was attracted to “younger looking” girls.
“While I was speaking, Shipman refused to make eye contact with me but instead looked at the table in front of him and continually nodded his head, as if to say yes,” King reported.
A search warrant was executed on at 3:17 p.m., Aug. 9, at 4405 East Highland Drive apartment 3. During the search, JPD detectives reported finding two 5ml syringes and a 10ml bottle of Trenbolone Acetate, a prescription steroid, the report states. The report states Shipman said he did not have a prescription for the substance. A hard drive was recovered from a computer in the apartment.
The decision was the made to place Shipman on administrative leave and to release him back into the public. It was paid leave, according to Paul Holmes, JPD’s information specialist. Holmes also said JPD does randomly drug test their officers.
The report states Shipman repeatedly requested a polygraph test and one was scheduled for Aug. 11.
By the time Aug. 11 arrived, Shipman retained legal counsel and was now refusing to take the polygraph exam, according to the report. He also resigned from Jonesboro Police Department, preventing media outlets from having access to disciplinary records which might have yielded more knowledge about this investigation.
On the same day, King began a forensic exam of a Samsung Galaxy 6 Edge found in Shipman’s apartment. It was learned the phone, in the possession of the JPD patrol officer, was stolen from The Vault earlier that year in January. While authorities can not prove Shipman stole the phone, he faces a charge of theft by receiving for having the stolen device.
Officers reported finding a variety of pornography which was difficult to classify age to but websites depicting incest were discovered.
Detectives also reported having trouble getting in touch with a company which provided them with an encrypted thumb drive containing Shipman’s cell phone data, which may have stalled the investigation. However, once King was able to enter into the device, he could not report any child porn discoveries.
Shipman faces a felony count of distribution, possession or viewing of child porn. He faces a misdemeanor possession charge for the steroids, although authorities seemed to omit the usual added paraphernalia charge. The former patrol officer is also facing a charge of misdemeanor theft by receiving for the stolen cell phone.
Prosecutors must still decide to charge Shipman. Deputy Prosecutor Charles Finkenbinder, with the Second Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, is currently reviewing the case.
Shipman’s father, John Shipman, abruptly ended his Craighead County sheriff’s campaign earlier in the year following the incident. He said he was going to do what was best for his family and himself.
NEA Report reached out to Shipman for comment but one was not received by publication time.
2 Trackbacks / Pingbacks