A Maumelle computer programmer who is accused of enticing young girls to model for sexually suggestive photographs and then perform sexual acts on him was ordered Friday to remain in custody until the next federal grand jury meets and can decide whether to indict him.
Seth Ganahl, 42, who owns and operates Ganahl Consulting LLC, was arrested Wednesday on a federal complaint accusing him of enticing a minor for sexual purposes -- five months after being charged in Pulaski County Circuit Court with two counts each of second-degree sexual assault and sexual indecency with a minor. He has pleaded innocent.
In a detention hearing Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. David Young, Ganahl asked to be allowed to remain free under electronic monitoring at his Maumelle house, where he lives alone and from which he conducts most of his business online or by phone.
But after hearing more than two hours of testimony from Ganahl and a Homeland Security Investigations agent, Young agreed with Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant that Ganahl should remain in custody to ensure he won't flee before the grand jury meets again, probably in early February, and to ensure the safety of the community.
Under questioning by Bryant, Ganahl acknowledged that he makes about $20,000 per month before taxes and that he has recently looked online at the availability of flights leaving Little Rock for various places, including Alaska, Mexico and Russia.
"I look at Google Maps and the flight app quite often," he said.
He also admitted meeting with his son to "say goodbye" the day before he was arrested on the federal complaint but said it wasn't because he planned to leave the country.
Ganahl also admitted using a tracking device to keep tabs on the whereabouts of one of the girls, whom he has been court-ordered to stay away from. He said he only keeps track of her whereabouts to make sure he doesn't go near her.
According to Special Agent Jeffrey Pryor of Homeland Security, a 12-year-old girl told authorities that Ganahl had sex with her several times, beginning after she called him one day in August to seek his help about a computer problem. She was home alone and knew that Ganahl, the father of a friend of hers, was a computer expert. Pryor said the girl later told authorities that Ganahl soon showed up at her house uninvited and began rubbing her arms and shoulders.
Pryor testified that the girl was uncomfortable around Ganahl because in the previous year or two, he had made suggestive remarks to her on several occasions, and once had her watch a video of a girl or woman performing oral sex on a man and then said, "Let me know when you're ready."
Ganahl had given the girl and her family money and valuable items in the past, Pryor noted.
Another girl told authorities that Ganahl had shown her the same video and asked her the same question afterward, Pryor said. He said she reported that he had often touched her inappropriately while making suggestive remarks and that he once forced her to do a "photo shoot" while she wore only a leather jacket and underwear.
The girl, now 13, has started cutting herself and "has expressed an interest in suicide," Pryor said.
On Ganahl's smartphone, which agents seized, they found several instant messages sent through Skype in which Ganahl, using his middle name, had asked several young girls to produce sexually oriented videos, under his instruction, in return for payment, the agent said.
After one 14-year-old girl sent him nude photographs of herself, Ganahl sent her an email saying, "You are breathtakingly beautiful," Pryor said. He said agents discovered through the messages that Ganahl took that girl to his house one day and then didn't send any messages to anyone for four hours. Pryor said the silence was broken when Ganahl texted the girl to tell her she had done a "fantastic" job performing a sexual act on him.
Pryor said Ganahl also told the girl that her skills were better than that of "another model," with whom he had been working in an effort to help her improve her skills.
The agent said that a fourth girl, also identified through Skype messages found on Ganahl's phone, told authorities that he had coaxed her into sending him a nude photo of herself even though she told him she was self-conscious and had low self-esteem. She said he then asked for more nude photographs of her in poses that he suggested. Pryor said Ganahl paid the girl to send him the photos, and that she explained to authorities that her family "needed the money to eat."
Pryor testified that Ganahl preys on financially disadvantaged girls, usually initiating contact with them online by saying he needs "a little help."
"We found extensive Craigslist emails where he is seeking a 'housekeeper-plus," the agent said, explaining that Ganahl requests females between the ages of 16 and 24 who are "willing to do housework and a few other things my wife doesn't do."
Pryor said Ganahl advertises that he pays the girls $50 initially for a "self shoot." Once they send a nude photograph of themselves, which he demands to ensure they're not a law enforcement officer, he pays them $75 to $150 per hour to let him do the photo shoot, Pryor testified.
The agent said that Ganahl is so savvy with computers that federal agents have not yet been able to access encrypted files on his confiscated computers.
Metro on 01/17/2015