BENTONVILLE -- A former employee at an Arkansas mental health center was placed on probation for asking a teen he met there to send him a nude photograph.
Rodney Dewayne Thomas, 26, of West Memphis pleaded guilty in December to engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or print medium. His plea was without an agreement, so Thomas' punishment was up to Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren.
Thomas' sentencing hearing was Friday morning.
Thomas worked at the Piney Ridge Treatment Center in Fayetteville. The facility treats children and adolescents with sexual-behavior and mental disorders, according to its website.
He admitted asking a former resident for a nude photograph. The 17-year-old told police that he was a resident at Piney Ridge for 10 months until early 2016, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The teen said he met Thomas at the center and the two became very close. The teen said Thomas started touching him within the first two months, and he told a therapist about the incidents, according to the affidavit.
Thomas was fired from the facility, the affidavit states.
The teen said Thomas later reached out to him via social media and started messaging him and asked for a nude photograph, but the boy refused and told his father, according to the affidavit.
Karren ordered that Thomas be placed on 10 years of state supervised probation. He must register as a sex offender, and the judge ordered Thomas not to have contact with any minors.
Thomas must pay $1,670 in court costs.
Thomas still has a criminal case in Washington County. He's charged with two counts of sexual assault.
The names of youths were redacted in court documents, so it's unknown if the Washington County charges involve the same 17-year-old or other residents.
Thomas is accused of inappropriately touching a resident while he was employed at Piney Ridge, according to court documents.
Metro on 02/21/2019