WARREN, Ark. — A pastor from a small town in Arkansas has now been arrested and charged for his involvement with child sexual abuse materials.
On Monday, the prosecuting attorney's office in Bradley County filed charges against 86-year-old Rocky Goodwin, who is the lead pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Warren, Arkansas.
Goodwin was charged with distributing, possessing, and viewing sexually explicit conduct involving a child.
The affidavit shows that the investigation goes back to April 2023 where special agents at Arkansas State Police first began looking into Goodwin.
According to court documents released on Monday, officials carried out a search warrant at Goodwin's home in May 2024 after they received multiple cyber tips from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Investigators seized several devices including laptops and hard drives where they reportedly discovered a "compressed zip file with sexually graphic in nature label" that said "12-year-old girl."
On June 20, 2024, investigators found over 70 images of child sexual abuse materials on his devices. Goodwin was later arrested on August 15.
According to state police, Goodwin said that he denies any knowledge of the child sexual abuse material and has also denied operating the laptop in that illegal manner.
A judge set a $150,000 bail for Goodwin and made him surrender his passport. His arraignment is set to be on September 28, 2024, in Bradley County.
For now, part of his bond has been paid and Goodwin has been seen preaching on the church's livestream.