BENTONVILLE -- A Missouri man pleaded not guilty March 11 to sex crimes involving contact with minors on the internet.
Timothy Schellen, 35, of Springfield, Mo., is charged with engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or print medium, internet stalking of a child and possession or use of child sexual abuse material. He entered the plea at his arraignment before Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green.
Schellen was arrested in December.
Ron Coble, a Siloam Springs police detective, went to Springfield to assist police with the investigation, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Schellen was interviewed by police and admitted he was trying to obtain nude images from young girls, including girls in Siloam Springs, according to the affidavit. Schellen said he talked about meeting with underage girls to have sex with them but told police he would never go through with it, the affidavit states.
He sent explicit images of himself to several underage girls, according to the affidavit. He would find young girls on TikTok, chat with them and try to move the conversation to Snapchat to talk more and exchange photographs, the affidavit states. He told police he does not know how many underage girls he received nude photos from, according to the affidavit.
Police discovered that Schellen's TikTok account showed him talking to more than 25 girls, according to the affidavit. His Snapchat account showed him talking with more than eight underage girls, according to the affidavit.
Schellen faces 10 to 40 years or life imprisonment if convicted of the engaging charge. He could be sentenced from five to 20 years in prison on each of the other two charges.
His next court appearance is set for May 6.