U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge today announced that Christopher Howe, 42, of Prairie Grove had received 222 months in prison, a $20,000 fine and 15 years of supervised release for taking hidden camera videos of a 16-year-old female as she undressed and showered in her Tontitown home.
He used a concealed iPhone and retained and edited the clips. The charge was attempted production of child pornography.
The government news release:
Fayetteville, Arkansas – Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Christopher Howe, 42, was sentenced today to 222 months in prison without the possibility of parole, a twenty-thousand dollar fine, and an additional 15 years of supervised release for the charge of Attempted Production of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place before the Honorable Jimm Larry Hendren in United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
U. S. Attorney Eldridge commented, “The defendant in this case has now been brought to justice for his despicable behavior. It is simply inexcusable for someone to victimize a minor in any circumstance, let alone by secretly recording them in this manner. We will continue to aggressively prosecute cases such as these and hold the perpetrators of these crimes accountable.”
According to court records, on March 26, 2013, a concerned parent contacted the Tontitown Police Department after finding nude videos of her minor daughter on a cell phone. In response, Tontitown PD was dispatched to Howe’s residence and made contact with the reporting parent. At that time, the reporting parent presented an IPhone belonging to Howe that contained hidden camera recordings of a 16-year old female taken in the bathroom of the home while she undressed and showered. The videos themselves showed that Howe, on multiple occasions over an eight month period, set an IPhone to record and concealed it in the bathroom just before the minor entered to shower. Howe would then retrieve the video afterwards and, in some cases, edit the video down to short clips of the minor fully nude or in compromising positions.
This case was investigated by the Tontitown Police Department and the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce. Assistant United States Attorney Dustin Roberts prosecuted the case for the United States.