Havre man accused of having nude photos of minor

A Havre man is charged with having nude photos on his phone of an underage girl.

Robert Adam Hutson, born in North Carolina in 1995, is charged with felony sexual abuse of children.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 18 at 9:45 a.m.

Hutson is also facing three other charges in two other separate cases filed this year. In one case, Hutson is charged with felony criminal possession with intent to distribute and misdemeanor criminal possession of drug paraphernalia after allegedly being found with 35.8 grams of marijuana, ziplock bags and weight scales. In the other case, Hutson is charged with felony assault with a weapon for allegedly beating a neighbor in the head with a baseball bat. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

He is serving a four-year probationary sentence for selling drugs to a minor on Sept. 9, 2015. District Judge Dan Boucher imposed the suspended sentence Sept. 30, 2016.

In the latest case, charging documents say a Tri-Agency Safe Trails Task Force agent Feb. 2 told a Havre Police Department detective who works in conjunction with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force they had information that someone had pornographic images of a minor. The ICAC officer learned that Hutson gave permission to have his phone searched after he was arrested for violating parole and that was when officers found nude images of a girl on his phone

Task Force agents discovered Hutson knew a high school girl from Missoula and that he had multiple pictures of her fully unclothed, documents say.

When Hutson came to the Havre Police Department Feb. 28 to talk to someone about getting his cellphone back, the ICAC agent interviewed Hutson, who said the reason he had the pictures was because the girl had self-image problems and he was trying to make her feel better by exchanging photos.

Hutson said the girl told him she was 21, but then said she was 15. Hutson said he tried to delete the photo and asked the girl to tell her parents about him. Hutson added it was not an issue anymore because the girl has a boyfriend, and he does not want to be with her anymore, documents say.

The ICAC agent told Hutson that having nude photos of someone in high school is possession of child pornography.

The agent talked to a deputy at the Missoula Sheriff's Office, who then set up a forensic interview with the girl.

The ICAC agent watched the interview, in which the girl said Hutson was the first to make contact with her and she told him right away she was 15, that Hutson made her uncomfortable and "gross" multiple times, that she sent him nude pictures after he begged for them, that she also received pictures from him that made her uncomfortable; and she stopped talking to him after Hutson said he wanted to move to Missoula.