El Dorado, Arkansas – Duane (DAK) Kees, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced today that Ian Mitchell Ashcraft, age 28, of Crossett, Arkansas was sentenced yesterday to 72 months in federal prison followed by fifteen years of supervised release on one count each of Receiving Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography. The Honorable Susan O. Hickey presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in El Dorado.
According to court records, in October of 2015, the United States Secret Service intercepted an Internet Protocol address which was downloading images of child pornography from the file sharing program Freenet. A subsequent search warrant to internet service provider, returned to the residence of Ian Mitchell Ashcraft of Crossett, Arkansas. On February 8, 2016, law enforcement officers with the Arkansas State Police Cyber Crimes Unit, United States Secret Service and Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant of Ashcraft’s residence. Several electronic devices capable of accessing the internet, owned by Ashcraft, were seized by agents. A subsequent forensic examination of an external hard drive seized from Ashcraft’s bedroom yielded numerous images and videos depicting child pornography.
Ashcraft was indicted in July 2017 on federal charges and plead guilty in September 2017.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service (USSS) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Assistant United States Attorney Denis Dean prosecuted the case for the United States.
--DOJ Western District of Arkansas