An Arkansas woman accused of trying to frame her husband with child porn has pleaded not guilty, records show.
Cherie Renee Bolton, 33, entered the plea Monday at an arraignment before Circuit Judge Robin Green.
Bolton is charged with distributing, possessing or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child and filing a false report with a law enforcement agency, Arkansas Online previously reported.
Bolton went to the Siloam Springs Police Department in May to report that her husband had beat her, downloaded graphic images and sexually assaulted a 13-year-old, according to an affidavit.
She reportedly showed a detective a phone with several several sexually explicit images of girls. The 33-year-old told authorities that she had waited to report the assault because the man had beat her, adding she was in severe pain. An officer noted that Bolton refused medical treatment and that only a faint marking on her hip was found.
In an interview, the 13-year-old said she had not been sexually abused, the affidavit states. Investigators learned that shortly before Bolton reported her husband, she was reportedly kicked out of her home and denied permission to see her children.
When interviewed by police in December, Bolton reportedly said she did not remember taking the phone to the police department and was using "dope" at the time. She later told authorities that she downloaded the images because she was mad that her husband was preventing her from seeing her children, police said.
A pretrial hearing for Bolton is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. April 12.
