ROGERS, Ark. — A Rogers middle school teacher has been arrested and is accused of nearly two dozen child sex crimes.
Bradley Douglas Quillen, 29, was booked into the Benton County Jail on Oct. 9 for 17 counts of distributing, possessing, or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, as well as four counts of engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or print medium.
Quillen was released the same day as his arrest on a $250,000 bond.
An affidavit said that a detective with the Benton County Sheriff's Office had been contacted by a sheriff's office in Wisconsin about a case they were working.
The sheriff's office reported that in April there was at least on instance of a man from Arkansas messaging a child in Wisconsin, having conversations that were sexual in nature and exchanging pictures.
On May 6, 2024, Benton County detectives made contact with Quillen at Kirksey Middle School, according to court documents. He told investigators that he was employed there and taught 7th and 8th graders, specifically computer classes, basketball, cross country, and track.
Quillen was informed that he was the subject of a case involving someone communicating with children in another state, and he consented to searches of some of his devices and his residence, the affidavit said. He denied searches of at least one phone and an iPad, which were still seized as part of the investigation.
A second interview was conducted on May 23, and Quillen was told by investigators that he had not been truthful originally, failing to disclose certain social media accounts. He denied multiple times the presence of certain accounts, according to the affidavit.
"I told Bradley he got in over his head, and he agreed that he did. I asked Bradley how long it had been going on, and he said about a year or two. Bradley advised he never touched anyone," the affidavit said.
Quillen told investigators that he talked to 15- and 16-year-olds, although they were sometimes younger than that, the affidavit said, later adding that he admitted the youngest person he had a sexual conversation with was in the range of 12, 13, or 14.
Quillen said he did this out of boredom, and when later asked if he was asking minors for nude photos, he said "no, but if it came up, it came up," the affidavit said.
"I asked Bradley if it was because he was around kids all day, and if it was because he saw them interacting. He stated no. I asked Bradley how many girls he talked to, and he estimated hundreds," the affidavit said.
The affidavit said that Quillen admitted to sending images of himself and requesting nude images. While the original reports were children from Wisconsin, Quillen told investigators that local kids were sometimes involved, including children at the school he taught at.
Quillen has been ordered to not have contact with any minors. He is expected in Benton County court on Nov. 12.
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