A 35-year-old Mountain Home man, initially charged with soliciting sex online from what he believed was a 14-year-old Missouri boy, has had a new charge filed against him.
Adam Michael Johnson appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday and entered a not guilty plea to the new allegations. He had pled not guilty to his initial charges on March 11.
The new accusations stemmed from a search of Johnson’s cellphone seized by law officers after his first arrest.
During that search, according to the probable cause affidavit in the newly opened case, a number of images of prepubescent males were found.
Johnson is now accused of Internet stalking of a child and distributing, possessing, or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child.
Internet stalking of a child is a Class Y felony – the most serious classification of crime in Arkansas not punishable by death.
The initial arrest stemmed from “chats” with the Missouri “boy” over the internet.
In those “chats,” Johnson is alleged to have suggested he meet the boy in Mountain Home for sex.
Johnson was actually swapping messages via computer with a Missouri Highway Patrol trooper posing as the teenager.
Johnson was arrested when he went to Cooper Park on March 4 to meet the “boy.”
After he was arrested at Cooper Park, the search warrant was served on Johnson’s property – including his cellphone. Investigators wanted to determine whether he had arranged similar meeting with actual underage victims, or committed other internet sex crimes.
Johnson’s bond is set at $90,000.
Troopers and special agents from the Arkansas State Police and Mountain Home police officers were involved in Johnson’s arrest.
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