Cabot Man Sentenced To 25 Years For Sexual Exploitation Of A Minor By A Parent

LITTLE ROCK—Christopher R. Thyer, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, along with David Shepard, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Little Rock Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), announced today that United States District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright sentenced Matthew Hiner, age 28, of Cabot, to 300 months, or 25 years, in federal prison for Sexual Exploitation of a Minor by a Parent.

On August 22, 2013, an undercover agent from the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force, operating out of a satellite office in Washington, D.C., was online in a public chat room and began chatting with someone using the username "daddylooking4fam," later identified as Hiner. Username "daddylooking4fam" posted "i’m a single 25 year old active bi dad of a 5 year old son from usa."

The agent then engaged in a private chat conversation with "daddylooking4fam." During this chat, "daddylooking4fam" told the officer that he had shared custody of a 5-year-old child. "Daddylooking4fam" said that he was "looking for a like-minded family to merge with and raise a very loving and active family with." "Daddylooking4fam" then asked the agent to chat on a private Yahoo! chat.

The agent then engaged in a private Yahoo! chat with a Yahoo! user utilizing the screen name "Matthew Hiner." The user of "Matthew Hiner" sent the agent five photographs which Hiner described as depicting himself and a 5-year-old child. The first photograph depicted a photograph of a child who Hiner described as a 5-year-old child to whom he had access. The second photograph depicted an adult male standing in front of a house. The adult male was identified as Hiner. The remaining three photographs depicted sexually explicit images of Hiner and the child.

Hiner was arrested on August 23, 2013. After being read his Miranda rights, Hiner admitted that he had been in incest chat sites and had engaged in sex acts with the five-year-old child and his friend’s 11- and 8-year-old sons. Hiner admitted to taking pictures of himself performing sex acts on the 5-year-old child, and admitted that he took the three pictures that were sent to the undercover officer. Hiner also took pictures of the 11-year-old and himself engaging in sex acts.

There is no parole in the federal system. When Hiner is released upon completion of his 25 year sentence, he will serve a lifetime of supervised release. Conditions of his supervised release require him to register as a sex offender and have no contact with minors under the age of 18. Hiner still faces three rape counts and one count of sexual assault in the 2nd degree in Pulaski County Circuit Court.

"Our office is committed to protecting the innocence of society’s most vulnerable victims, our children, especially when they are being abused by those they trust the most." Thyer stated. "Today’s sentence cannot undue the harm done by Hiner but it does send the message that actions like his will not be tolerated and will result in lengthy prison sentences."

"The Little Rock Field Office of the FBI is dedicated to investigating and stopping the kind of heinous acts of abuse which were committed by Hiner on innocent children," Shepard said. "We would like to thank our partners at the United States Attorney’s Office for their continued dedication to prosecuting predators like Hiner."

The FBI led the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Kristin H. Bryant prosecuted the case for the United States.