Man gets 40 years in child pornography case

JONESBORO — A Jonesboro man was sentenced to a total of 40 years in prison Monday after he pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography, according to court records.

Joseph Dewayne Pennington, 32, was originally charged with 41 counts of the crime, but all but four were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea.

Craighead County Circuit Judge Randy Philhours gave Pennington credit for 136 days served in the Craighead County Detention Center since his arrest in July.

Following his release from prison, Pennington will be required to pay $1,000 in various court costs and register as a sex offender.

Court documents indicate the case had been under investigation for almost a year. According to a probable cause affidavit by Detective Christopher Pigg of the Jonesboro Police Department, on Aug. 26, 2022, JPD’s Internet Crimes Against Children received a cybertip from the Arkansas State Police’s Internet Crimes Against Children unit. The tip was sent to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children from Kik. An online messaging service. Kik reported 73 files of child exploitation that were uploaded and shared from a certain user name.

The FBI intelligence analyst had already served subpoenas to Google, Kik and Suddenlink, the affidavit states, resulting in the identification of Pennington as the Google subscriber and email account holder.

“The 73 files that were reported on Kik are video files that show juvenile males and females ranging from an approximate age of 5-16 engaging in sexual conduct,” the affidavit states. “Officers conducted a search warrant at Pennington’s residence. A revolver was located in Pennington’s bedroom, the serial number of the revolver was filed off.”

Philhours ordered all the sexuallyexplicit material and the gun destroyed.

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Electric Cooperatives of

Arkansas linemen light up

Christmas in Guatemala

LITTLE ROCK — Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas linemen along with electric cooperative linemen from Colorado and Oklahoma are embarking today on a mission to Guatemala to deliver electricity to 197 rural Guatemalans in 38 villages. The residents have never had electric service, so they will celebrate Christmas in a special way.

The communities that are included in the project are located in Alta Verapaz, which is situated in the north central part of Guatemala. Alta Verapaz is humid and agriculturally very productive. Its main crops include corn, beans, rice, coffee, tea, cacao, peppers, cardamom and palm oil, among other products. Textile production is one of the most important economic activities in the region and the native garments, called “trajes tipicos,” are among the most colorful in the country.

“During the mission, electric cooperative linemen from Arkansas will work with electric cooperative linemen from Colorado and Oklahoma to provide service drops to residents

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in the 38 villages and also complete the internal wiring within the homes of villagers,” said Vernon “Buddy” Hasten, president/CEO of the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas. “Once this project is complete, Arkansas electric linemen will have assisted more than 2,300 rural Bolivians and Guatemalans receive electrical service.”

Arkansas linemen and their respective cooperatives participating in the threeweek mission project are: Dylan Rupe with C& L Electric of Star City; Clint McNeely with First Electric of Jacksonville; Jay Jones with North Arkansas Electric of Salem; Chase Hathorn and Bryar Burks with Ozarks Electric of Fayetteville; Steve Howard and Jamie Reeves with Petit Jean Electric of Clinton; Todd Spakes and Alex Wright with Southwest Arkansas Electric of Texarkana; and William Thompson with Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation of Little Rock.

NRECA International is coordinating the project in partnership with Heifer International.

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34-year-old charged after reportedly choking victim

BEEBE — A Beebe 34-year-old officially has been charged after allegedly choking a woman to the point that she could not breathe during an argument.

A warrant was issued recently for Andrew Allan Ford on charges of class D felony aggravated assault on family or household member and class A misdemeanor interference with emergency communications. Ford, who was not in custody in White County on Friday, is scheduled for plea and arraignment in White County Circuit Court on Tuesday.

According to the affidavit written by Beebe Police Department Detective Caleb Crump, a possible domestic disturbance at a residence on South Cypress Street was reported Oct. 24. The caller reportedly told dispatchers that Ford had taken a phone away from the alleged victim after assaulting her.

Ford still was holding the alleged victim’s phone when an officer arrived, Crump wrote, and she “was asking for it back.” He reportedly told the officer “that he and the victim were in a verbal argument and the victim’s ‘baby daddy’ called threatening him, so he took the phone out of her hand.”

The alleged victim reportedly said that Ford had grabbed her 3-year-old son by the head to move him out of his

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way when the child was in the doorway when Ford was coming out of the bathroom. When the alleged victim yelled at Ford, he reportedly “grabbed her by the neck and pushed her against the wall.”

“She said Ford was choking her to the point where she could no longer breathe,” Crump wrote. “Officers did not observe any marks or bruising on the victim.”

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Beech Grove man arrested in rape, sexual assault case

JONESBORO — A Greene County man was being held without bond this week after his arrest on suspicion of rape and sexual assault, according to authorities.

Kenneth Joe Poore, 42, of Beech Grove was arrested Nov. 28 after an investigation by Greene County deputies. Poore faces three counts of rape and two counts of sexual assault in the second degree in the case. According to a probable cause affidavit, an Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children investigator interviewed the victim Nov. 28 about the case. The victim told authorities about four different instances of inappropriate sexual contact between her and Poore, investigators said.

“The … victim was able to provide specific details on three incidents that would constitute rape by definition of the statute and disclosed an act of sexual contact that would constitute Sexual assault 2nd by definition of the statute,” Greene County deputies said in the affidavit.

According to the Arkansas Sex Offender registry website, Poore is listed as a Level 3 offender due to a 1st degree sexual assault charge.

Authorities believe the incidents happened between October 2022 and Nov. 28, 2023, according to the affidavit.

Poore is being held in the Greene County jail, awaiting a court date in the case.

POORE