Carlisle Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Distribution of Child Pornography

LITTLE ROCK—A Carlisle man was sentenced today on one count of distribution of child pornography. United States District Court Judge James M. Moody Jr. sentenced Stuart Adams, 34, to 15 years in federal prison. Cody Hiland, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Diane Upchurch, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Little Rock Field Office, announced today’s sentencing.

In February 2019, an undercover FBI agent posted an advertisement online, indicating that he was seeking children for sexual purposes. Adams responded to the ad and began texting the undercover agent. In the texts, Adams expressed interest in meeting the agent’s fictitious eight-year-old daughter and having sex with her. Adams sent the agent two videos and one photograph that depicted child pornography.

Based on those interactions, the FBI obtained a search warrant for Adams’ residence in Carlisle. They seized a cell phone that contained three photos of sexually explicit material involving children. Law enforcement also seized a hard drive that contained 71 photos and six videos of child pornography, as well as various external drives and storage cards that contained additional photos and videos of child pornography.

“This defendant responded to an online advertisement because he was looking for an opportunity to sexually abuse a child,” U.S. Attorney Hiland said. “In his attempts to build trust with whom he believed to be his victim’s father, he distributed child pornography. Today’s sentence demonstrates that those who target our children will not go unpunished, and we will aggressively investigate and prosecute anyone who attempts to victimize children in our communities.” 

“Stuart Adams’ sentence today sets the tone for how we will handle child predators in our state,” Special Agent in Charge Upchurch said. “If you harm a child, we will investigate you, we will arrest you, and with help from our United States Attorney’s Office partners, we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. We urge our Arkansas neighbors to remain vigilant against child predators and to immediately report suspected cases of violence against children to the FBI.”

On June 5, 2019, Adams was charged in a three-count indictment with two counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography on February 3, 2020.

In addition to the prison term, Adams was sentenced to five years of supervised release following his imprisonment. The investigation was conducted by the FBI, and the case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kristin Bryant.