FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A man was arrested in Fayetteville for child sex abuse materials, according to Washington County jail records.
According to a release, on May 2, 2021, Google reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) eight files representing child sex abuse material, being uploaded to their site. Google provided the NCMEC with the user's gmail address and NCMEC was able to provide the suspect's phone number and the name "Wharf Ratkris". Just a few days later on May 6, Google notified NCMEC a second time of another child sex abuse material upload.
The Washington County Sheriff's Office was able to look up the phone number which led to 38-year-old Kristopher Westbrook. A search warrant was issued on Aug. 16, 2023, at the 4000 block of West Wales Drive in Fayetteville where Westbrook was taken into custody, according to the release.
Officials searched the suspect's bedroom and took a laptop, a hard disk drive and his cellphone. Over 700 photos of child sex abuse materials were found on the laptop and the cellphone had the email address connected with the Google uploads, according to the release.
Westbrook is also known as a chef TikToker with the name "Wharf Rat Kris." Westbrook has over 152,000 followers on TikTok and claims to support "No Kid Hungry," according to his bio, where he has a link to donate to the organization.
In his TikTok, Westbrook refers to himself as a "sorority chef" and in some of his cooking videos, he claims to be cooking for a sorority at the University of Arkansas.
Delta Gamma, a sorority at the University of Arkansas has stated that Westbrook had previously worked on their property, but he "is not and has never been a direct employee of Delta Gamma, and furthermore no longer an employee of the contracted service provider."
Westbrook is being charged with distribution, possession and viewing child sex abuse materials, according to the report.
His bond is set at $25,000, and his court hearing will be held on Monday, Aug. 21.
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