Police arrest man on Internet stalking charge
Posted on Saturday, June 28, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/66641/
A Springdale man was arrested Friday for allegedly stalking a child on the Internet.
Thomas Conley Smith, 21, of 2204 Sycamore Place, faces a felony charge of stalking. He was arrested by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which includes detectives from the Washington County Sheriff ’s Office and Fayetteville Police Department.
On April 18, Smith allegedly contacted a 13-year-old girl in an online chat room. During the following two months, he allegedly contacted the juvenile on several occasions and initiated sexually explicit conversations and discussed meeting for sex. During the conversations, Smith allegedly admitted that he was a 21-year-old man from Springdale.
According to an arrest report, Smith arranged to meet the juvenile on Friday for sex, at which time he was arrested. During an interview with task force members, he admitted to chatting with the 13-year-old girl and wanting to have sex with her.
Smith was being held in the Washington County Detention Center on Friday evening. A bond amount had not been set. He is expected to make his first appearance in Washington County Circuit Court on Monday.