Former Sebastian County judge sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography

Ryan Turbeville
·1 min read
11

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A former judge in Sebastian County was sentenced to federal prison on Wednesday for possession of child pornography.

The Eastern District of Arkansas Office of the United States Attorney said 54-year-old Daniel Arthur Stewart of Fort Smith pleaded guilty to charges of possessing child pornography. He was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison with 10 years of supervised release after.

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According to officials, Stewart previously worked in the Sebastian County prosecutor’s office before serving as Sebastian County District Court Judge in Fort Smith.

Stewart had been originally indicted in January of 2019 on charges of attempting to entice a child to engage in sexual activity following an investigation into conduct that occurred between February and March of 2016.

In February of 2016, court officials said a Faulkner County police officer with an undercover profile responded to a Craigslist ad searching for contact with a “young guy” or “son.” Officials said the undercover profile was that of a 42-year-old man with a 13-year-old son. When the poster responded, authorities said the conversation continued on the online messaging platform Kik.

Police said the poster’s contact photo was identified as Stewart and a sexually explicit conversation followed that led to Stewart indicating he would reserve a hotel room in Fort Smith so he could have sex with the 13-year-old on Mar. 19, 2016. Authorities said Stewart was arrested when he entered the lobby of the hotel.

After the arrest, law enforcement searched Stewart’s home and said they found devices containing videos depicting sexually explicit conduct involving minors.

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Court officials said following his time as a judge, Stewart had also worked as a public defender for Crawford County and Sebastian County.

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