86-year-old pastor had child porn trove at his home, Arkansas cops say. He’s charged

A year-long child porn investigation led to charges filed against an 86-year-old pastor of an Arkansas church, authorities said.

Rocky Goodwin, a pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Warren, was charged Sept. 16 with 10 counts of distributing, possessing, and viewing sexually explicit conduct involving a child, court records show.

Goodwin is still listed on the church’s website as of Sept. 18. The church’s Facebook page has been restricted.

The investigation began in May 2023 when Microsoft informed officers that a suspected child porn image had been uploaded on a user’s computer into a reverse image search on Bing, according to an affidavit. Two similar images were uploaded months later, authorities said.

Investigators learned all three reverse image searches contained child sexual abuse material, investigators said.

Officers executed a search warrant at Goodwin’s home in May 2024, seizing his laptop, according to the complaint. Files on the computer included .zip files with sexual labels, including one labeled with the words “12 year old girl,” authorities said.

The computer contained 71 child porn images, investigators said.

“Mr. Goodwin denied any knowledge of the child sexual abuse material and denied operating the laptop in that illegal manner,” police said. “Mr. Goodwin stated he knew no other person that could have had access to that laptop.”

When Goodwin was initially arrested in August, he said through his attorney that he “vehemently denies all charges and allegations.”

“They are false,” lawyer David P. Price told the Magnolia Reporter. “We are looking forward to Mr. Goodwin’s day in court and are confident that he will be exonerated.”

McClatchy News has reached out to Calvary Baptist Church and is awaiting a response.

Warren is about a 90-mile drive south from Little Rock.

This story was originally published September 18, 2024 at 10:55 AM with the headline "86-year-old pastor had child porn trove at his home, Arkansas cops say. He’s charged."