Two Mohave County school workers have been arrested in a child exploitation investigation, while defeated Arizona treasurer candidate Elijah Norton says he plans to launch a multi-million-dollar defamation lawsuit against outgoing treasurer Kimberly Yee.
Pierce Anthony Eller, 41, a contracted janitor at a Kingman-area school, was arrested after investigators alleged he exchanged vape pens and alcohol for nude photographs from girls aged between 14 and 16.
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said detectives found evidence that Eller had obtained images from four girls and shared them with others. He faces four counts of luring a minor, 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and four counts of commercial exploitation of a minor.
None of the alleged victims was a pupil at the school where Eller worked, according to investigators. Kingman Unified School District said he was not directly employed by the district and would no longer be allowed on campus.
During the investigation, detectives identified Ronald Wayne Bowman, 57, as one of the people who allegedly received the images. Bowman had worked as a teacher in the Kingman Unified School District for 24 years, the sheriff’s office said.
Bowman was arrested and booked into the Mohave County Adult Detention Facility on nine counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. Authorities said the investigation remains active and further arrests or charges have not been ruled out.
Separately, Norton announced plans to sue Ms Yee one day after conceding the Arizona treasurer’s race to Democrat Nick Mansour.
He alleges that Ms Yee helped spread false claims about his personal life and used the rumours to encourage a primary challenge against him. Norton says the alleged campaign forced him to spend about $2 million of his own money defending his Republican nomination and weakened his general election campaign.
Norton said the proposed lawsuit, expected to be filed in Maricopa County, would also name Republican primary rival Katherine Haley and political consultants Kim Owens and Lisa James.
Ms Yee has not publicly addressed the allegations and did not respond to requests for comment, according to local reports. Norton has said he intends to take the case to trial rather than settle.
Mansour defeated Norton in the 3 November election, securing the treasurer’s office for the Democrats for the first time in nearly six decades.
