Photo: Steven Walski
A plea of not guilty was entered Thursday for a Mountain Home barbershop owner facing 99 counts of distributing, possessing and viewing images depicting child sex.
His attorneys – Gray Dellinger of Melbourne and Emily Reed of Mountain Home — entered the plea on behalf of 33-year-old Steven Walski.
The investigation into Walski’s activities was launched several months ago based on a report from an Internet provider.
The report, which was made to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, indicated a user had violated the company’s terms and conditions by uploading an image containing Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).
The case was worked by an investigator with the Mountain Home Police Department and an Arkansas State Police special agent based in Harrison.
On June 21, more images were downloaded, followed by another on July 29.
During the investigation, Walski was developed as a suspect.
According to the probable cause affidavit, a large majority of the images depicted nude pre-pubescent females engaged in sexual contact with adults or who were “sexually posed.”
Walski was arrested this month as he exited a vehicle in Mountain Home’s downtown business district.
He had recently relocated his business to the courthouse square from Georgetown Square.
He is free on $25,000 bond.
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