LITTLE ROCK — While band director for the Izard County Consolidated School District last year, Stacy Lynn Tucker was caught with 729 images of child pornography on computers and videos. He was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison.
The 40-year-old man, who now lives in Fayetteville, pleaded guilty on March 25 in federal court in Little Rock to one count of possessing child pornography. In his plea, he accepted responsibility for possessing the images, which included 525 images on seven videotapes, four of which involved children younger than 12, and 197 still images, 86 of which involved children younger than 12.
U.S. Attorney Jane Duke said authorities began focusing on Tucker in January 2007, when an undercover police officer from Oxford, Miss., posing as a 14-year-old girl from Oxford, was approached in an Internet chat room by Tucker, who was using a screen name.
"In that chat, the defendant began to engage in explicit sexual chat and asked the undercover officer to engage in sexual role play," Duke said. She said that in other chat sessions in April 2007, Tucker again approached the officer, who he believed to be a young girl, and invited her to view pornographic images. He then forwarded child pornography to the officer.
During the execution of a search warrant that was served on June 5, 2007, at Tucker's home, federal agents seized two computers and a thumb drive that contained child pornography.
"This case is a perfect example of state and federal government working together to protect our children," Duke said in a news release about the sentence, which was handed down by U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright.
Duke noted, "Each time child pornographic images are viewed, the child is victimized. Without people like Stacy Tucker who want to look at these images for their sexual pleasure, there would not be a market for these images and innocent children would not be victimized in this way."
Tucker faced up to 10 years in prison under federal statutes. His attorney, Jerry Larkowski of Little Rock, sought a sentence of probation or at least a lesser sentence than the 57-71 months recommended by federal sentencing guidelines.
He argued that Tucker cooperated with authorities after he was caught and has begun counseling.
In addition to the 48-month sentence, Wright ordered Tucker to serve 25 years of supervised release.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 09/04/2008