Ex-high school photographer from Arkansas pleads guilty to internet stalking

A former high school photographer from Arkansas has pleaded guilty to internet stalking after pretending to be a teenage girl online, according to U.S. Attorney Christopher Thyer.

Christian Trey Ashcraft, 40, owner of Ashven Photography, was charged Jan. 5, 2016, with one count of internet stalking and one count of lying to a federal agent.

Ashcraft appeared Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker in the Eastern District of Arkansas to enter the negotiated plea in exchange for a charge of lying to a federal agent being dropped.

Thyer said Ashcraft posed as a 15-year-old girl via email using a Yahoo account and sent explicit photographs over a significant period of time.

In December 2014, Ashcraft admitted to using the account after law enforcement officers obtained and executed a search warrant, Arkansas Online previously reported.

Read Thursday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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