BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — A Centerton man was sentenced to 230 years in prison for sexual assault and possessing, viewing, and distributing child sex abuse material on Tuesday, according to Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Josh Robinson.
In June 2023, Christian Sellars was arrested for multiple sex crimes as part of a joint cyber investigation between the Centerton Police Department and the Benton County Sheriff's Office (BCSO).
According to BCSO, Sellars had worked at several daycares across Rogers, Centerton, and Bentonville starting in at least 2021.
Sellars pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual assault and 19 counts of CSAM charges on Oct. 15, 2024. Robinson confirmed Sellars got 40 years for the sexual assault charges and 190 years for the CSAM charges, totaling 230 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Sellars was credited for the 487 days he had already served in jail.
In addition to the sentencing, Sellars was ordered to have no contact with the victims or any minors, register as a sex offender, and complete a sex offender treatment program.
Investigation
According to police, they received a tip from Snapchat to the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children (NCMEC) surrounding Sellars. They were told they had found obvious child sexual abuse material on the app. They were able to link this material back to Sellars through his IP address and username.
Police also received another tip from the online chat site Omegle, which matches users with random people over a chat or video call. According to Omegle's report, while conducting a search for spambots and other abuse in the chat section, they found a message that was later tracked to Sellars' IP address soliciting a young boy.
Numerous pictures and videos of child sexual abuse were reportedly found on Sellars' phone and computer. There were over 300 video and picture files in a hidden folder on his phone, but Sellars allegedly said he possessed around 100 pictures and videos.
In his confession, Sellars also admitted to touching a minor inappropriately twice and was charged with two counts of sexual assault, according to officials.
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