The final meeting of the Harrison City Council in June included information on recent arrests in and around the city.

The complete recap of the presentation from the City of Harrison is below:

During the Department Heads report at the City Council meeting Thursday night, June 26, Police Chief Graddy shared some recent activities that resulted in arrests.

Shannon Neff recently pled guilty in Boone County Circuit Court to two charges of Possession of Child Pornography with a sentence of 96 months in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. This was after Neff uploaded child pornography to an online website, and it was discovered. Federal Task Force Officer HPD Det. Ted Schaeffer executed five search warrants, which later resulted in Neff’s arrest and ultimate conviction.

Det. Schaeffer, Boone County Sheriff’s Office and the Taney County Sherrif’s Office conducted an investigation which led to the arrest of Jason Caton, a resident of Rockaway Beach, Missouri in connection to a rape in Missouri and Arkansas with potential charges to be filed in Federal Court.

Canton is accused of meeting a Boone County minor child online and engaging in sexual intercourse with her. A few weeks later, he is accused of driving to Arkansas and bringing her to Missouri, where he engaged in sexual intercourse with her multiple times over several days before getting the 13-year-old back to Arkansas.

Graddy mentioned the third case, which involved another partnership with Det. Schaeffer and Special Agent Rodney Villiger of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Division of the Arkansas State Police.

In Sharp County, Arkansas, SA Villiger started an exhaustive criminal investigation for possession and distribution of Child Sexual Assault Material (CSAM) after a cyber tip was received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The target, Jesse Wilson, was already a convicted level 3 sex offender. Det. Schaeffer was formally requested to assist in the criminal investigation; this allows the workload of an expected exhaustive case to be spread among experienced ICAC investigators. Wilson was arrested on the scene, and multiple electronic devices were seized. In a locked closet and hidden, officers located personal clothing they believed belonged to a child. Investigators had an idea of who the child was, but the personal clothing and DNA samples from two children were sent off for testing.

During a digital forensic examination of one of Wilson’s devices, SA Villiger discovered startling evidence. He discovered evidence that led them to believe the mother, Rebecca Huffmaster, of a suspected child was not only the individual who gave Wilson the personal clothing, but the two also spent considerable time organizing sexual graphic behavior with the two daughters. A search warrant was executed, and Det. Schaeffer was again requested to assist SA Villiger. Huffmaster was interviewed and arrested. Six children were taken into state care. Wilson faces 40 counts of possession of CSAM and possession of a firearm, and two counts of conspiracy to commit rape and two additional charges are anticipated. 

SA Villiger and Det Schaeffer are the primary ICAC officers for the area, and they work diligently and cooperatively together on the child exploitation cases.