Ashdown Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Production of Child Pornography

TEXARKANA – An Ashdown man was sentenced today to 360 months in prison without the possibility of parole, followed by 20 years supervised release, on one count of Production of Child Pornography.  The Honorable Chief Judge Susan O. Hickey presided over the sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court in Texarkana.

According to court documents, in November of 2018 the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Texarkana, Arkansas received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an individual had uploaded to the internet multiple images depicting the sexual abuse of a five-year old female. The subsequent investigation identified the defendant, Aaron Llyod Mitchell, age 25, as the individual who posted the images to the internet. On November 21, 2018, FBI agents conducted a search of Mitchell’s residence. During a post-Miranda interview, Mitchell admitted to producing the images of the five-year-old and uploading them to the internet. On December 13, 2018, Mitchell was indicted on multiple charges involving the sexual exploitation of a minor.  On June 20, 2019, Mitchell pleaded guilty to production of child pornography. 

U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas made the announcement.

The FBI investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Roberts prosecuted the case.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.