Dexter man facing child porn charges has case continued

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A Dexter, Mo., man now facing more than 60 child pornography charges had his case continued during a court appearance Thursday afternoon.

Arlie Richard Lewis Jr., 26, was supposed to appear before Associate Circuit Judge Joe Satterfield for a preliminary hearing on possession of child pornography and possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to use.

Lewis' attorney, Lesley Lynn with the public defender's office in Kennett, Mo., asked that the preliminary hearing be continued after the state filed amended information with the court Wednesday.

Satterfield granted Lynn's request and reset Lewis' preliminary hearing for 1 p.m. Jan. 19.

In the amended information, Stoddard County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Andy Rehmer charged an additional 61 felonies of possession of child pornography and two Class B felonies of possession of child pornography and first-degree child molestation against Lewis.

"Mr. Lewis was previously charged with one count of possession of child pornography; however, after additional investigation, more than 900 additional images were recovered through a forensic computer investigation," Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver said in a news release.

Most of the images, according to Oliver, were of toddlers and children less than 6 or 7 years old engaged in sexual acts with adults or posing nude in a sexually explicit manner.

"Also, after further investigation, the additional count of child molestation in the first degree was revealed," Oliver said. The alleged victim, he said, is a 2-year-old.

Satterfield issued a new warrant for Lewis' arrest and set his bond at $250,000 cash only. He remains in the Stoddard County Jail.

"Due to the manner in which we have charged Mr. Lewis, if convicted of all counts, (he) faces a maximum sentence of up to 472 years imprisonment," Oliver said.

The charges against Lewis stem from an investigation by the Dexter Police Department, which began on Oct. 20 when Lewis' wife contacted officers about suspected child pornography she had found on her husband's cellphone.

Lewis' wife, according to Det. Trevor Pulley's probable cause statement, reported she returned home to find her husband asleep on the couch with their daughter.

Pulley said Lewis' wife saw a picture of a nude female, which he reportedly had downloaded earlier on the phone, as well as photos of his ex-girlfriend.

"(She) stated that Arlie had previously promised that he deleted all of the pictures of his ex-girlfriend from his phone," Pulley said.

Lewis' wife, Pulley said, woke her husband up and put her daughter to bed.

"Arlie was unaware that (she) had seen the pictures that he had downloaded to his phone," said Pulley said.

The couple, he said, watched some television before going to bed.

Lewis' wife reported to Pulley she could not sleep because she was mad about the photos of the ex-girlfriend.

"She wanted to see if there (were) any more pictures, so she looked at his phone while he was sleeping," Pulley said. "She stated that the pictures she first viewed were in a folder saved on the phone that she was unable to find, so she looked under the regular file of photos and discovered more pictures that he had downloaded that night."

As she began looking through the phone's contents, Pulley said, Lewis' wife found some of what she believed to be pornographic pictures.

"(She) stated that as she kept looking at the pictures, she started to see children in the pictures," Pulley said. "She believed that the children were ranging from toddlers to 7 or 8 years old.

"(She) described these pictures as children being naked and also as adults having sex with children."

Pulley said a search warrant was applied for and subsequently executed at the Lewis home in the 400 block of East Grant Street.

Lewis' iPhone and computer were seized, and search warrants were obtained for both devices, said Pulley.

Upon examining the computer, Pulley said, additional images of a "child engaging in explicit sexual contact" were found.

On Oct. 23, Pulley said, a Dexter woman also reported Lewis allegedly had inappropriate contact with her 2-year-old daughter.

Pulley said he subsequently interviewed Lewis on Oct. 26.

Lewis, he said, admitted to viewing child pornography via his cellphone.

Lewis initially denied any inappropriate contact with the toddler; however, he later told Pulley the contact was an accident.

Pertinent address:

Bloomfield, MO

Dexter, MO