Photo: Michael Osburn
A Stone County man, 31-year-old Michael Osburn of Mountain View, has been sentenced to 50 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction, after pleading guilty to 32 felony sex-related charges.
Online records indicate Osburn entered a guilty plea to 30 charges of distributing, possessing, viewing matter depicting child sex and two counts of failure to register as a sex offender or report an address change.
The prosecutor’s report notes Osburn was placed on six years probation in 2017, after entering a guilty plea to three counts of sexual assault in the fourth degree. The victim was a 15-year-old female. Osburn was required to register as a sex offender.
In March this year, agents with the Department of Community Correction and the Stone County Sheriff’s Department conducted a probation visit at Osburn’s registered address. The residents at the address advised he had not lived there in over two months.
At the same time, officers learned Osburn had a social media account not registered as required by his 2017 sentencing.
Through the account, officers learned Osburn appeared to be living in Independence County with a female partner and two minor children.
A warrant for his arrest was issued for failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements.
With assistance from Arkansas State Police, Osburn’s cellphone was searched following his arrest. Investigators found over 16,675 images depicting matter of a sexually explicit nature involving children, many of whom were considered infants and toddlers.
Screenshots of applications known to investigators to be used for obtaining and viewing illegal images were also located.
Computers, electronic storage devices, cellphones and other digital evidence were obtained and processed.
In late September, Osburn entered into a negotiated plea agreement for cases in both Stone and Independence counties.
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