Two men arrested in Washington County child porn investigation

Garry and Alex Traphagan
Garry and Alex Traphagan

Two men were arrested Wednesday in connection possessing, distributing or viewing child porn after an investigation that started in 2014, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Garry Traphagan, 61, and Alex Traphagan, 21, were booked in the Washington County detention center and released on $5,000 bond each.

The investigation began in 2014 when Canadian authorities saw several links to child porn were being posted in a chatroom.

Department of Homeland Security investigators eventually linked some of the posts to an IP address in Arkansas, according to the affidavit. Investigators obtained information from AT&T linking the IP address to the Traphagan's house in Fayetteville, the affidavit states.

Authorities obtained a search warrant for the home, and served the warrant on Oct. 28, 2014. The search turned up child pornography on multiple devices, according to the affidavit.

Alex Traphagan also admitted to a federal special agent on the case that he had uploaded child porn, and used multiple websites and screen names to obtain child pornography, according to the affidavit. He apologized for his actions and said he was glad he was caught to prevent his problem from worsening, the affidavit stated.

A forensic examination of Garry Traphagan's computer turned up multiple images of child porn, according to the affidavit.

Investigators questioned Garry Traphagan on Oct. 6, 2015. He told them he had viewed pornography on the computer but said he did not know any of it depicted children.

Investigators obtained arrest warrants for both men on April 28, and served them Wednesday.

Upcoming Events