TEXARKANA, Texas -- A man who was charged with child pornography possession at the end of a traffic stop last year pleaded not guilty Monday to three felonies.
James "Jimmy" Tubbs, 31, of Ashdown, Arkansas, appeared before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell for arraignment Monday morning at the Bi-State Justice Building in downtown Texarkana. Assistant Bowie County Public Defender Clayton Haas entered pleas of not guilty for Tubbs on charges of online solicitation of a minor, possession of child pornography and promotion of lewd visual material depicting a child.
Tubbs was arrested by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper last year during a traffic stop that began with a defective license plate light, according to a probable cause affidavit. During the stop at approximately 9 p.m. Sept. 2, 2021, Trooper Quentin Stovall allegedly acquired Tubbs' permission to look at his cell phone.
The affidavit does not explain what led the trooper to ask for Tubbs' phone. Images the trooper saw of a young girl led to an investigation by DPS and Tubbs' arrest.
In an interview later that night, Tubbs allegedly admitted to a DPS agent that images on his phone were of a teen girl he met on SnapChat, a social media application. The girl met with a forensic interviewer in Texarkana about a week later.
She allegedly reported she is 14 and "felt trapped in the online relationship with Tubbs" because he would allegedly threaten suicide if she attempted to cut off communication.
Online solicitation of a minor and possession of child pornography are both punishable by two to 10 years in prison. Possession of lewd visual material depicting a child is punishable by six months to two years in a state jail.
Tubbs is being held in the Bowie County jail with bails totaling $125,000.