A man who recently moved from Salem to Mountain Home is facing child porn charges in both Baxter and Fulton Counties. Twenty-seven-year-old Joel Laban Belcher is facing a total of 39 counts of distributing, possessing or viewing of matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, 25 counts in Baxter County and 14 counts in Fulton County.
According to court documents in the case, the investigation into Belcher started November 30 and he was arrested March 4. Local law enforcement started their work after being notified by the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children after Snpachat reported the user name belonging to Belcher violated their terms and conditions by uploading videos which contained child sexual abuse. The IP address provided by Snapchat was from Salem and was later traced to Belcher’s address there.
During the investigation, it was determined Belcher had moved to Mountain Home. An investigator from the Arkansas State Police assigned to the case was able to locate Belcher March 4 in Mountain Home and placed him under arrest.
During questioning following his arrest, Belcher admitted to uploading and downloading child sexual abuse material, but stated he only did it to catch pedophiles and report them. He also admitted to sexually molesting a family member when he was young. In a later interview, Belcher admitted to being sexually attracted to children and said he needs help.
Investigators used extraction software to search Belcher’s cell phone where they found over 1,700 photos and over 100 videos of underage children either nude or performing sexual acts. Belcher’s phone also had evidence of 20 different chat apps that were used.
Belcher is currently being held in the Fulton County Jail on a $100,000 bond. He is expected to make his first court appearance in Baxter County Monday.
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