Jonesboro, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – A Jonesboro man has been sentenced to half a decade in the Arkansas Division of Correction after pleading guilty to three felony counts of possession or use of child sexual abuse material.

Austin Hunter Deatherage, 26, entered a negotiated guilty plea in the Craighead County Circuit Court on Oct. 20, with Judge Randy Philhours sentencing him the 60-month prison sentence alongside a 120-month suspended imposition of a sentence. Deatherage received credit for 385 days of jail time already served, the sentencing order shows.

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In addition to his prison term, Deatherage was ordered to pay $1,490 in total fines and court costs, which includes a $500 cybercrime assessment, a $300 fine, and a $250 mandatory sex offender fee. He is required to register as a sex offender and must complete a mandatory assessment with the Arkansas Community Corrections Sex Offender Aftercare Program.

Court documents outlining conditions for Deatherage’s suspended sentence mandate that he cannot reside with any child unless explicitly approved by a circuit judge. He is also required to submit his person, residence, motor vehicles, and other property to search and seizure at any time, with or without a warrant, by a law enforcement or a supervising officer.

Deatherage was originally arrested on Sept. 30, 2025, after Jonesboro police received a cybertip from Arkansas State Police regarding explicit videos involving children that were distributed via Snapchat. A probable cause affidavit said that investigators executed a search warrant and traced the account, phone number, email, and IP address directly to him.

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