A Wynne man who admitted possessing sexually explicit images of a 10-year-old has been ordered to serve eight years in federal prison, with five years of supervised release to follow.
Chief U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker handed down the sentence Thursday. The U.S. Attorney's Office noted there is no parole in the federal system, meaning Tyler Ball will serve the full prison term, according to WREG.
Arkansas State Police investigators said their probe found Ball took sexually explicit photos of the child in or around 2015. A search of his home turned up a cell phone kept in a safe that contained 14 images of the victim, KAIT reported. The station said the victim and the child's mother went to law enforcement after receiving messages from Ball.
How prosecutors say it unfolded
According to prosecutors, Ball contacted the victim on Snapchat and sent a series of apologetic messages about what had happened years earlier. The U.S. Attorney's Office quoted Ball as writing, "I'm really sorry. I'm balling my eyes out. You mean so much to me, and I'm very, very sorry," as reported by WREG. Those messages helped spur the family to reach out to the police.
Legal note and next steps
Ball pleaded guilty on Aug. 22, 2025, to a superseding information charging him with possession of child pornography, according to court filings cited by KAIT. With the federal sentence now in place, supervised-release conditions and other post-conviction restrictions will take effect once he completes his prison term.
The victim's identity is shielded in court records, and officials have not released additional details beyond what appears in filings and prosecutors' statements. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas and investigated by the Arkansas State Police.
