The case against a man facing 72 counts of distributing, possessing or viewing child pornography was dismissed by the state during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
Twenty-three-year-old Joshua Daniel Koger, who is reported to be autistic, was found not fit to proceed after a psychological examination.
Koger’s arrest in late January 2021 stemmed from a tip provided to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that was passed along to local investigators. The information in the tip was that a person using the Google search engine had violated the company’s terms and conditions by uploading images of a sexual nature involving children on August 5, 2020.
Investigators traced the activity to Koger.
Koger was interviewed and said he “might have done it,” but could not remember if he did or not. Other discoveries further tied Koger’s cellphone to various e-mail addresses involved in the downloading and swapping of the material.
A previous cyber tip was received in May 2018 linked to obtaining and storing 31 images of child sexual abuse material. Koger admitted to the 2018 download. Investigators met with Koger and his parents and said that due to his mental condition, he would not face charges for the 2018 incident.
Koger was required, however, to sign a “warning form” acknowledging he had been told by police he could be prosecuted if he continued to seek such images.
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