Suspect Faces 40 Charges for Child Sexual Abuse Material

JONESBORO, Ark. – A Jonesboro man had his probable cause hearing today for charges related to alleged possession of child sexual abuse material.

Ronald Wayne Felts, 61, faces 40 counts of distributing, possessing, or viewing of matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child. However, there may be many more, Judge Tommy Fowler said in the probable cause hearing.

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Five external hard drives, each containing a terabyte of data, was recovered from the suspect. The judge said there may be well more than 100,000 different photographs and videos. It was also noted that there is a possibility this case will go into the federal court system.

The court set a $1 million cash/surety bond for his release.

The court set several pretrial release conditions, beginning with the suspect having zero internet access in any form. Judge Fowler specifically mentioned the accused was to have no smart TV, no cell phone with internet, no Xbox or PlayStation, or any other online access. One other pretrial release requirement was Felts not having a phone with camera access. The judge said it appeared there were photos of juveniles and families taken in public without their knowledge. Although the photos mentioned weren’t necessarily criminal in nature, given the context of the other charges, they were enough to cause alarm.

A public defender was also appointed.

Each charge is a Class C felony, with each carrying the possibility of 3 to 10 years in prison and up to $10,000. The suspect’s next court date is at 8:30 AM on September 27.

All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.