Johnson County
Sheriff's Office
Clarksville, Arkansas
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11/30/2011

One Arrested, One Sought On Child Pornography Charges

A 9-month child pornography investigation by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children’s Division has resulted in arrest warrants being issued for two Johnson County residents, Roger Lynn Bates, age 56 and Clifford Edmund Bates, age 45, both from the Flat Rock community in eastern Johnson County.

 Roger Bates is charged with three counts of Possessing Matter Depicting Sexually Explicit Conduct Involving A Child (Class C Felony).

 Clifford Bates is charged with two counts of Possessing Matter Depicting Sexually Explicit Conduct Involving A Child (Class C Felony)

 The case began when an investigator with the Crimes Against Children Division and Sheriff’s Deputies and Detectives visited the residence in June and evidence was collected with permission of the homeowners.

 Detectives and Deputies then served search warrants on the Bates residence in August where several items of evidence were seized.  Detectives spent several hundred hours compiling the evidence and made several trips to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory in Little Rock to turn over evidence in the case.

 Items removed from the residence during the course of the investigation included computers, hard drives, gaming devices, camcorders, digital cameras, cell phone cameras, USB storage devices and undeveloped film.

 Roger Lynn Bates was arrested by Detective Sgt. Jeff Wood and Lt. Chad Morrow at his residence on Wednesday, November 30 without incident.  At the time of his arrest, Roger Lynn Bates was out on bond for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

 Clifford Edmund Bates is being sought and a felony warrant has been entered against him.

 Anyone with any information on the whereabouts of Clifford Edmund Bates is asked to contact the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office at 479-754-2200 or the TIP line at 479-705-8477 (TIPS).