Belle man arrested for multiple counts of possession of child porn

BELLE, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Belle man is facing multiple counts of possession of child porn after an investigation by the Maries County Sheriff's Office.

Eldon Rakestraw was served with a warrant for his arrest on Monday while he was in jail serving seven days for a probation violation stemming from an earlier plea deal. His warrant was for six counts of possession of child pornography (class c felony) and 51 counts of possession of child pornography (class b felony).

Officials say in a release the images and videos were located on Rakestraw's cell phone which was seized during his 2021 arrest and searched after obtaining a search warrant.

Rakestraw pleaded guilty previously to two counts of second-degree statutory rape- and one count of witness tampering where he was sentenced to a seven-year prison sentence for each of the three charges with a suspended execution of sentence requiring five years of supervised probation, according to the release.

Rakestraw is also facing charges after he was arrested in January of 2022 from an investigation into a report of child molestation which occurred in Belle in the fall of 2021.

A Maries County judge has revoked Rakestraw's bond due to bond violations of the January 2022 arrest and open court case.

Rakestraw has not been formally charged according to court records.