Henrietta man charged with child porn possession

By JoEllen Black/Richmond News

A Henrietta resident was arrested for possession of child pornography of more than 20 photos or other visual media. The charge is a Class B felony.

Stephen Victor Conrad, 43, was picked up by Richmond Police Department on a warrant Friday. He was found in his Ford Escort in the Ray County Library parking lot. Judge James Thompson signed the warrant and issued $500,000 cash-only bond with special conditions.

“I do fear he’s a danger to minor girls in the community. We have found that he has taken photos of girls around town (Richmond),” said Henrietta Police Chief Caleb Carter. “And he was parked at the library facing the Dollar General, the same spot where he’s taken photos of girls (in middle and high school). Maybe there are some victims out there that he tried to approach and they didn’t think nothing of it or it was something they didn’t want to tell. I just want them to know it’s safe to come forward. He’s in custody,” Carter said, adding that there’s “no statute of limitation any more if he did take it a step further.”

Carter said these types of pictures were taken in his car without the subject knowing they were being photographed. Those photos were in envelopes from the photo lab and had handwritten notes as to where the photos were taken and the age group of girls, taken in places like Southview Pool in Richmond, Lexington swimming pool and downtown Richmond sites.

But the police chief alleges he found pornographic photos of minor girls on Conrad’s home computer after he received a consent search form from Conrad Oct. 30.

“It started with a simple nuisance violation. It started in September and we informed Mr. Conrad that he was in violation and non-compliance. We made contact in early October for him to clean up his property to get into compliance. After charging him with violations, I got to see the inside of his house in its complete … I don’t how to describe it – … not fit for any type of human being,” Carter said, attempting to find words to portray the home’s condition. He described it as a home of a hoarder with six-foot high piles of trash and junk, and narrow pathways. He also said the home reeked of accumulating cat urine and feces. Carter said Larry Eastley, Henrietta’s building inspector, condemned the house on Oct. 29, citing it as unfit to live in.

“Basically, we (the city of Henrietta) took possession of the house, and the next day Mr. Conrad came to court and wanted to get back some of the cats,” Carter said. “He acted like he didn’t want anyone in the house and acted suspicious. We got a signed consent search and that’s when found child pornography on his computer.”

In his probable cause statement, Carter said he saw the first pornographic image on Conrad’s computer when he bumped into a stack of junk that fell over and hit the computer, causing the screen to open. An image of a girl around 10 years old was seen unclothed from the waist down. Carter states that computer folders entitled “Pre-Teen Nudes,” Pre-Teen Models” and “Nudes” revealed hundred of photos files. The computer’s hard drive and external  drive indicated 43,000 images, but not all were nudes or minor, he said. Carter then arrested Conrad and took him to Henrietta Police Department. Carter said Conrad waived his Miranda rights in writing and agreed to be interviewed without an attorney, according to court documents. The police chief said Conrad gave him permission to view contents of his computer with him. “He could explain that they were models and he was not doing anything illegal,” Carter said in his statement.

 

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To contact Chief Carter, call the Henrietta City Hall at 816-290-5337.

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