BATESVILLE, Ark. (KAIT) – An Arkansas postmaster is being held on a $150,000 bond after police said he sent nude photos of himself taken in the post office and mail truck to a child he met online.
A judge found probable cause Tuesday to charge Raymond Lloyd Freeman Jr., 49, of Batesville, with nine counts of pandering or possessing visual or print medium depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, a Class C felony.
On Oct. 30, a mandated reporter filed a report with the Batesville Police Department after finding “inappropriate communications” between Freeman and a girl under the age of 16.
According to the affidavit, the complainant also provided two USB drives and an envelope with multiple nude photos of the child and Freeman.
On Nov. 13, Freeman agreed to an interview at the police department.
After being read his Miranda rights, Freeman told Detective Brenda Bittle he had been the postmaster in Batesville for about 13 years. According to the U.S. Postal Service’s website, he was appointed on March 8, 2014.
When questioned about his online conversations with the alleged victim, Freeman said he did not know the child was under 16 but later learned she was.
“He then stated that he had gotten depressed and his marriage was bad and he needed somebody to talk to,” Bittle said in the court document.
Freeman reportedly told the detective the victim had sent nude photos to him without his asking and that he had told her to stop.
“He then went on to say that he had sent naked photos of himself to the [child] and that he only sent maybe two,” Bittle said.
According to the affidavit, a search warrant revealed that Freeman sent 32 naked photos of himself to the victim.
“Some of these photos that Raymond sent are in Raymond’s office at the post office, the post office bathroom and also in the Batesville mail truck,” Bittle said.
Freeman is being held in the Independence County Detention Center on a $150,000 bond awaiting his next appearance in court.
