Carnal abuse, porn net 4 years in prison

LAURA KELLAMS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Calvin Leroy Heithaus, accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl and threatening to post photographs of her on the Internet, pleaded guilty Wednesday to carnal abuse and possessing child pornography.
Heithaus, 21, had originally been charged with rape in the crime that prosecutors said took place last November.
As part of a negotiated plea agreement, Heithaus admitted guilt to a third-degree carnal abuse charge. He also pleaded guilty to five counts of pandering or possessing print medium depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child.
Washington County Circuit Judge William Storey sentenced Heithaus to 10 years in prison with six years suspended.
"You know the victim in this case will suffer for the rest of her life, and you'll only suffer for the time you're in the penitentiary. Think about that," Storey said during the plea hearing Wednesday morning.
Police reports show that the victim accused Heithaus and two teen-age boys of dragging her into a bedroom at Heithaus' home and tying her up. Police said the girl reported that all three raped her and that Heithaus then took photographs of her. She said he told her to "look professional" because he planned to post them on the Internet, police reported.
Police said they seized a computer from Heithaus' home and found hundreds of sexually explicit photographs, some of which showed children having sex with adults.
Kimberly Weber, a Washington County deputy prosecutor, said she charged Heithaus with five counts of possession of child pornography because there were five photographs that clearly depicted small children in sex acts.
The rape charge against Heithaus, formally filed in December, was changed to carnal abuse May 26. Weber said it would have been difficult to prosecute Heithaus on the rape charge because he claimed she consented and because the victim's family would rather that she not have to testify.
Information was unavailable Wednesday on the status of the teen-agers who are also accused in the case. Officials didn't release the names of the boys, who were 15 at the time.
Officials in the prosecutors' office wouldn't comment on the teen-agers' case other than to say one case was pending while the other had concluded. They wouldn't say whether the boy had been found innocent or guilty of the charge.
Heithaus is to serve a total of four years in prison and Storey ordered him to have no contact with the victim and to register as a sex offender.

This article was published on Thursday, June 8, 2000

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