Traffic stop leads to c.p. charges

A state trooper clocked C Jay Wilbanks-Kilkenny, 22, of West Plains doing 84 in a 65 m.p.h. zone, and now he is facing charges of possessing child pornography. On Feb. 27, Trooper J. Healy attempted to initiate a traffic stop for speeding on U.S. Highway 63 near State Highway PP. Kilkenny did not yield to the marked troop vehicle with lights and sirens, said court documents. Instead, he allegedly reached speeds of 115 m.p.h. as he fled. Trooper Healy terminated the pursuit without catching the defendant. 

 

During a traffic stop on March 4, Kilkenny admitted to being the driver who fled from Trooper Healy. He denied a search of his mobile phone. Healy seized the phone, “pending application of a search warrant.” The phone could have contained evidence of Kilkenny’s involvement in the pursuit, said the probable cause statement. 

 

Judge David Ray granted the search warrant on March 6, and law enforcement began a forensic examination of the phone. This search led to a video file depicting an adult man subjecting a boy appearing to be approximately seven years old to sexual acts.

 

On April 26, Kilkenny was arrested at his place of employment in Thayer, Mo. Formal charges followed on April 28. He is accused of aggravated fleeing a stop, and possession of a video file of child pornography. The latter is a class B felony. 

 

He posted bond of $50,000 on May 1 and is scheduled to be arraigned after press time on May 5.