Rogers man sentenced to 18 years in prison
Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2008
BENTONVILLE - A Rogers man was sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to drug charges and to arranging to meet a 13-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity.
Aaron Michael Humphrey, 24, pleaded guilty to Internet stalking of a child, three counts of delivery of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was also charged with computer child pornography, but Deputy Prosecutor Mike Armstrong agreed to dismiss the charge under a plea agreement he reached with Humphrey's attorneys.
Humphrey was arrested March 8 after arranging online to meet a 13-year-old girl. He was apprehended by two Benton County Sheriff's Office investigators. According to court documents, BCSO investigator Dennis Schumacher was online in January pretending to be a 13-year-old girl when he was contacted by a person claiming to be a 24-year-old male from Rogers. Humphrey sent sexually graphic comments to the person he believed was the teenage girl, court documents reflect.
Schumacher, posing as the teenage girl, arranged a meeting with Humphrey, according to court documents. Humphrey was arrested when he drove by the arranged meeting place, a baseball field near Bentonville High School, court documents state.
Humphrey was free on $ 15, 000 bond at the time of his arrest. He had been arrested in November 2007 after deputies found 12 pounds of processed and brick marijuana at Humphrey's residence, according to court documents.
Circuit Judge Tom Keith accepted the plea agreement and Humphrey's guilty plea.
Humphrey was sentenced to 12 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction for the Internet stalking charge and six years for one of the delivery counts.
The sentences will be served consecutively.
Humphrey received a 10-year suspended sentence for the remaining drug charges.
He will be required to registers as a sex offender, and was ordered not to have any contact with anyone under 18 without adult supervision. He must also pay $ 3, 290 in courtassociated costs.
Public Defender Janette McKinney represented Humphrey in the Internet stalking case, while Rogers attorney Alyson Lee represented Humphrey in the drug case.
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