Lewis faces add'l. charges, up to 472 years

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - A Dexter man behind bars who was originally charged with one count of possession of child pornography just had a laundry list of new charges added to his case.

Arlie Richard Lewis, Jr., 26, was arrested in October 2011 after his wife discovered pictures on his cellular phone depicting naked children performing sexual acts.

A release from the office of Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russell Oliver Wednesday afternoon detailed a list of now 63 counts of the Class B and C felonies of possession of child pornography, one count of the Class B felony of child molestation in the first degree and one count of the Class A misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to the press release, the count of child molestation stems from later allegations that he molested a two-year-old victim.

Following the revelation of the new charges, the court amended Lewis' bond to $250,000 cash-only.

"Due to the manner in which we have charged Mr. Lewis, if convicted of all counts, he faces a maximum sentence of up to 472 years imprisonment," Oliver said.

According to the original probable cause statement in the case filed by Det. Lt. Trevor Pulley of the Dexter Police Department, officers were contacted by Lewis' wife in reference to her discovery.

Pulley states that upon returning home on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011, the wife discovered her husband asleep on the couch with their two-year-old daughter. She saw his cell phone and noticed a picture of a nude female that he had reportedly downloaded earlier, as well as pictures of his ex-girlfriend.

The wife then awakened him, and they watched television for a short while. Unable to sleep because she was angry about the pictures of his ex-girlfriend, she decided to check his phone again while he was sleeping.

As she began looking through the contents of his telephone, she found nude photos of him as well as pornographic pictures of children between toddler age and eight years old. She said the photos showed adults engaged in sexual acts with the children.

The report states she then decided she was not leaving her child with him and contacted the police who, after acquiring a search warrant, seized Lewis' iPhone and computer. A total of 27 pornographic images depicting children were located, as well as a wooden "dugout" with marijuana residue, marijuana seeds and a glass marijuana smoking pipe.