ES detective leads investigation that yields child porn arrest

A Green Forest man remained in custody in the Carroll County Detention Center on Tuesday after being arrested earlier this month on charges related to child pornography and alleged sexual assault involving a child.

Terencio “Junior” Perez is being held on $250,000 bond. Identified in a news release as a Mex i can national, he also is being held for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He is charged with distributing, possessing or viewing of matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child and second-degree sexual assault.

The arrest resulted from an investigation that started in late February when Eureka Springs Police Department detective Josh Jackson, a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, received a report regarding a cyber tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children via Lenore Paladino of the Arkansas State Police in reference to a file containing suspected child pornography that was uploaded to SnapChat.

The cyber tip report indicated that the Snap-Chat username associated with the file was “juniorperez329” and also identified an IP address associated with the file.

Jackson viewed the file, a 25-second video depicting what appeared to be a 10- to 12-year-old female engaged in a sexual act.

An internet search connected the IP address to a residence on County Road 906 in Green Forest.

On May 10, a federal search warrant was obtained and Jackson received results connected to the username juniorperez329.

According to a probable- cause affidavit, SnapChat provided Jackson with four additional videos and five images, all of which Jackson determined to be child pornography.

On June 2, Jackson — along with officers from Homeland Security Investigations and the Eureka Springs, Green Forest and Berryville police departments — served a search warrant at the address on County Road 906 and made contact with Perez.

According to the affidavit, Perez confessed to videotaping an underage girl approximately two years before when she was approximately 9 years old.

Perez was then placed under arrest and transported to the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.

The alleged victim was interviewed the same day at Grandma’s House Children’s Advocacy Center in Berryville. The girl described being touched inappropriately by Perez when she was as young as 8 and said she was glad when officers came because Perez “did a lot of horrible stuff.”