Cottonwood Police arrested a local man on child sex charges including dangerous crimes against children and luring a minor for sexual exploitation. Sgt Monica Kuhlt says the suspect in the case is 19-year old Daniel Howell. In December 2017, Cottonwood Police received a report from Daniel Howell that his Facebook was “hacked” after a 14 year-old female threatened to report him to the police after inappropriate online interaction between the two in which he initiated. Shortly after that detectives learned of additional victims. Their investigation determined Howell was the alleged suspect but would report his account being hacked once he believed the underage female he contacted was going to report him to law enforcement. Kuhlt says they were assisted in the investigation by YCSO and the FBI. She says they believe there may be one more victim from out of state; the investigation continues.
