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VietnameseGriffin: ‘Bringing child pornographers to justice requires collaboration across multiple jurisdictions’
LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin today issued the following statement on the involvement of his office in the arrest of Marcus Allen Abeyta, 31, of Emporia, Kansas, on one federal count of production of child pornography involving a minor residing in Arkansas:
“Bringing child pornographers to justice requires collaboration across multiple jurisdictions including, in this matter, federal, military, and state law enforcement. Abeyta is not a member of the military, but my office took the lead on this case because the victim is the child of parents stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base.
“During our investigation, it was discovered that Abeyta is a suspect in numerous other criminal investigations involving child exploitation in other states. I thank my office’s Special Investigations Division for working closely with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on this matter.”
Abeyta was arrested on May 16 at his residence, and his cell phone was seized for digital forensic examination. The examination led to the identification of other minor victims in various parts of the country. HSI and Griffin’s office are still working through evidence to identify other potential victims.
Abeyta is currently being held in Kansas at the Butler County Jail awaiting transfer to Little Rock by the U.S. Marshals Service.
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 has served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 27 years and currently holds the rank of colonel. 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.
He is currently serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana. His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Liberty (née 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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