Attorney General Griffin Announces Benton Woman Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges Following Arrest Made by Special Investigations Division

LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin today issued the following statement announcing Regina Mai Allen, 29, of Benton, pled guilty to one count of Distributing, Possessing, or Viewing of Matter Depicting Sexually Explicit Conduct Involving a Child:

“In February 2024, special agents from my office’s Special Investigations Division (SID) received a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) cybertip from the Arkansas State Police. A search warrant was executed on Allen’s home, where SID seized several electronic devices. The devices contained 51 images and 133 videos containing Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM). Allen was arrested and charged with four counts of distributing, possessing, or viewing of matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child in federal court.

“On July 1, 2026, Allen pled guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography in the U.S. Eastern District Court of Arkansas. Allen has not been sentenced yet, but as part of her plea deal, she could face 5-20 years in prison, pay a fine of up to $250,000, and must register as a sex offender.

“I am grateful to SID for its exemplary work on this case. I also want to thank the Benton Police Department for their assistance in the arrest. My office remains steadfast in its commitment to protecting children and holding offenders accountable. We will continue working with our law enforcement partners to investigate crimes involving CSAM and help keep Arkansas’s children safe.”

To download a PDF version of this release, click here.

About Attorney General Tim Griffin

Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.

Griffin is currently an officer in the Arkansas Army National Guard and holds the rank of colonel. Griffin served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.

His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.

Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.

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