On Wednesday, following a press release from the Sebastian County prosecutor's office, Today in Fort Smith published a story about the arrest of 18-year-old Santiago Monterrosa for the rape of a minor juvenile relative.
In researching background information for the story, facts were taken from Arkansas Court Connect, among other sources, regarding the charges and eventual arrest of Monterossa.
State law requires that confidentiality of court documents in reference to a case involving a juvenile victim should be sealed to protect the identity of the victim. In most cases, this includes documents like Affidavits for Warrants or Victim Statements that are either completely sealed or highly redacted.
Sebastian County prosecutor Daniel Shue entered a motion to seal the Affidavit of Warrant in the case on March 6 of this year.
On Wednesday morning, the Affidavit of Warrant was visible on the Arkansas Court Connect site, including the name of the victims mother, the initials of the victim, and detailed information concerning the assaults on the child. TIFS downloaded a copy along with a copy of the Motion to Seal on Wednesday.
The only information redacted in the document was the date of birth of Santiago Monterrosa.
Currently there are two ways to access information on Arkansas Court Connect after the website was updated earlier in the year. Today in Fort Smith obtained the document in question by searching for Monterossa on the site the "old way" on Wednesday.
Upon discovering the unredacted document with the vital information that could have identified the victim, TIFS notified the Sebastian County prosecutor's office the information was online and was being used as source material for our story.
As of today, files in the case can can still be accessed on Arkansas Court Connect utilizing the "old" method and the "new" Arkansas Judiciary Case Search option on the website.
The viewable files still include the Affidavit of Warrant with the information disclosing the name of the child's mother and the child's initials.
Today in Fort Smith emailed the Sebastian County Prosecutor's Office earlier in the afternoon for a comment on the situation expecting a response by close of business. There has been no response to our queries from the Prosecutor's Office.
We also spoke with Jeff LeMasters, Communication Director at the office of Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, in an effort to get some clarification on the matter. LeMasters said he would get us information on the legal ramifications of the situation but later texted saying he could not reach the people he needed in order to see if he could make a comment on the situation.
We will update this story as more information becomes available.
