An Izard County man is facing 13 counts of failure to comply with registration and reporting requirements, class C felonies after authorities conducted a compliance check and discovered 59-year-old Kenneth Lee Ward had a multitude of social media accounts and unregistered e-mail address used for the purpose of finding individuals to have sex with.
According to the affidavit for warrant of arrest filed Nov. 20, on Oct. 31, deputies with the Izard County Sheriff’s Department traveled to Ward’s residence in Melbourne. Ward is classified as a level 3 sex offender and “high risk” by the State of Arkansas.
Upon arrival, they noticed a vehicle parked in the carport of the residence that was not registered in the Arkansas Sex Offender Registry (ASOR) as a vehicle Ward owned or had access to.
Ward stated the vehicle belonged to a family member and that he used it on occasion.
After obtaining consent to search from Ward, the investigation continued and authorities found an e-mail account on Ward’s cellphone which he had also failed to register.
Multiple unregistered social media accounts were also discovered.
The phone was seized pending the execution of a search warrant, as well as an unregistered HP computer found in the home.
Ward was advised of his rights and then reiterated he did drive the vehicle on the carport and the e-mail he used, which was neither of the two addresses registered with ASOR.
On Nov. 6, a search warrant was obtained to search Ward’s devices and showed 10 social media applications installed on the device, “several of which, based on the applications activity, Ward used to communicate to individuals and engage in sexually explicit communications,” the affidavit said.
“It was discovered that Ward was using these social media platforms to meet various individuals and engage in sexual activity. In addition to using social media platforms to engage in and arrange sexual activity, Ward was also texting various individuals and arranging to meet in exchange for sexual acts.”
The affidavit noted based on date stamps from communications, this activity had been ongoing for more than a year with some individuals.
By law, sex offenders are required to report and register all e-mail addresses and social media networks, access to vehicles, newly acquired technology capable of communications or change of addresses within five days of any changes.
It was noted the HP computer had been in Ward’s possession since February of this year.
Bond for Ward was set at $10,000 and he has since been released from the Izard County Detention Center.
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