Man pleads guilty to child-porn charge

Searcy suspect enters into deal with government after bid to toss evidence fails

A White County man arrested on rape and child pornography charges in 2019 pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to one count of production of child pornography and faces the possibility of spending the next 15 to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced.

John Ronald Ord, 51, of Searcy, entered the plea just over a month after he had unsuccessfully attempted to get crucial evidence against him thrown out, alleging that it had been improperly gathered by Searcy police when he was arrested. Ord’s attorneys, Paul and Michael Petty of Searcy, filed a motion July 19 to suppress evidence obtained during a traffic stop and a subsequent search of Ord’s home on the grounds that the vehicle search was illegal because it was based upon a false pretext and the warrant for the search of his home was overly broad, was based on outdated information, and the search was conducted after the search warrant had expired. U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson denied the motion on November 12.

Ord was originally indicted on one count of production of child pornography on Dec. 4, 2019. A superseding indictment handed up by a federal grand jury last month expanded the charges against Ord from the single count of production of child pornography to one additional counts of production, one count of possession of child pornography and two counts of sex trafficking.

He was arrested in 2019 by Searcy detectives after a man told authorities that Ord had sexually assaulted him when he was a child.

On Monday, with U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky sitting in for Wilson, Ord was arraigned on the superseding indictment. In a hearing immediately afterward, Ord then pleaded guilty to Count 5 of the superseding indictment, one of the two counts of child pornography production he was charged with, in exchange for dismissal of all the remaining counts.

As he was led into the courtroom Monday morning by a U.S. Marshals Service escort, Ord blew a kiss to two family members sitting in the courtroom, then nodded and gave a small wave. He sat quietly at the defense table answering Rudofsky’s questions in a quiet voice during the two hearings, which lasted about 50 minutes.

“I’m not the one who normally arraigns people,” Rudofsky explained. “That is normally done by a magistrate so this may take a little longer.”

Rudofsky read the charges contained in the six-count superseding indictment and the penalties called for in the federal statutes for each. For Count 5, Rudofsky said, the penalties under the statute are imprisonment for a minimum of 15 years to a maximum of 30 years, up to a $250,000 fine, five years to life supervised release, a mandatory special assessment of $100 and an additional special assessment of $5,000 pursuant to the Victims of Sex Trafficking Act of 2015.

After hearing the six counts against him contained in the superseding indictment for the arraignment hearing, Ord pleaded innocent to all counts, which Rudofsky explained to him was procedural. Then, as he opened the plea hearings, Rudofsky carefully and at length explained to Ord his rights as a defendant and the rights he would surrender by pleading guilty.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant told Rudofsky that under the terms of a plea agreement between Ord and the government, that Ord knew at the time of the crime that the minor was under the age of 18, that he caused the minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct, that he acted with purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct and that the depiction was transported or transmitted.

Bryant said in regard to Count 5 of the superseding indictment that Ord came under investigation by the Searcy Police Department in 2019 over allegations of sexual abuse of underage boys.

“Through the investigation, a search warrant was obtained on a Galaxy Note 9 belonging to Mr. Ord,” Bryant said. “Law enforcement located a conversation on an application called Grindr, which is a dating application, and in that application a communication between R.C. — later identified as a 14-yearold minor — and Mr. Ord.”

Bryant said during the conversation, which she said began on Dec. 26, 2018, Ord asked R.C. to send him a photo of his genitalia.

“Specifically,” Bryant said, “Mr. Ord sent R.C. a message asking, ‘can I see yours?’”

In reply, Bryant said R.C. sent Ord the photo along with one of his face.

“On Oct. 30, 2019, R.C. was interviewed at the White County Child Safety Center,” Bryant said. “R.C. disclosed that he sent a nude photograph of his genitals via a social media site to Mr. Ord at Mr. Ord’s request.”

“Mr. Ord,” Rudofsky asked, “did you listen carefully to everything Ms. Bryant had to say?”

“Yes, sir,” Ord responded, quietly.

“Is everything she said accurate?” Rudofsky asked. “Yes, sir,” Ord repeated. “Are there even any small inaccuracies?” Rudofsky asked. “If there are, now is the time to correct them.”

“No, sir,” Ord replied quietly with a small sigh.

After Rudofsky explained the sentencing process, which follows production of a pre-sentencing report by the U.S. Probation office, Ord was led out of the courtroom by his U.S. Marshals Service escorts as he turned and waved again to his family.

“I love you, John,” said one, as he was led away. “Call me tonight.”