SILOAM SPRINGS (KFSM) — Police say a Siloam Springs woman tried to frame her husband by downloading child pornography on a cell phone he had access to and telling authorities he raped a 13-year-old girl.
Cherie Renee Bolton, 33, was arrested Monday (Jan. 22) in connection with downloading child pornography and filing a false police report — both felonies.
Bolton said she was upset that her husband wouldn’t let her see their kids, and she downloaded the illicit images while she was using methamphetamine and in the middle of a manic episode, according to a probable cause report.
On May 24, 2017, Bolton told Siloam Springs police that her husband was sexually assaulting the girl and had attacked Bolton when she caught the pair, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Bolton presented police with three images of child pornography and showed them a possible bruise on her ribs that investigators were unable to positively identify. Bolton said she waited to make a report because she feared retaliation from her husband.
But investigators later discovered that Bolton’s husband had kicked her out of their home on May 22, 2017. Police then extracted the photos from the phone and found Bolton downloaded the images May 23, 2017.
Bolton initially denied knowing how the images got on the phone, but after further questioning, said she downloaded them because she was upset her husband was trying to keep her from seeing their kids.
Bolton’s husband and the girl also denied any sexual abuse occurred.
Bolton said after being kicked out of the house, she went to a motel in West Siloam Springs, Okla., where she did meth with a man she met off Craigslist. She said the man kicked her out of the room after an argument.
Bolton believed she downloaded the images while she was at the motel, but said she couldn’t be sure, according to the affidavit.
She added that she was outside Ozark Guidance in Siloam Springs at some point, but later woke up at Springwood’s Behavioral Health in Fayetteville.
Siloam Springs Capt. Derek Spicer on Wednesday (Jan. 24) praised investigators’ efforts in handling such “an unusual case.”
“The detectives did a great job with the forensics of the phone,” Spicer said.
Spicer added that if anyone suspects someone has or is downloading child pornography, they should contact their local police department.
Bolton is free on a $75,000 bond. Her arraignment is set for March 5 in Benton County Circuit Court.
