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News footage of Michael David Booth aka YouTube”s “Mr. Crafty Pants” during his court appearance on Oct. 23 (WAVE).
Michael David Booth, 39, who goes by the online moniker “Mr. Crafty Pants,” has garnered a substantial following across YouTube, Instagram, and other social networks. However, authorities claim that his activities on the messaging app Kik have led to his arrest in Kentucky.
Local NBC affiliate WAVE obtained an arrest citation revealing that a tipster reported a Kik account sharing child sexual abuse material in August. Police investigations linked the account to Booth through selfies allegedly connected to him, substantiating the allegations.
The citation detailed how the IP address linked to the Kik account corresponded with Booth’s Louisville residence. Authorities allege Booth was involved with three files depicting minors under the age of 12 and three additional files involving teenagers under 18. Reports indicate that Booth purportedly shared the content featuring younger children “on at least 10 occasions,” while the material involving older minors was allegedly distributed over 15 times.
The arrest citation stated that the IP address connected to the Kik account matched Booth’s home address in Louisville. Police said that Booth was allegedly connected to three files that depicted minor children under 12 years old and three more files depicting minor teenagers under 18 years old. According to the report, the files containing the images of the younger children were allegedly shared by Booth “on at least 10 occasions.” The files with the older children were allegedly shared by Booth more than 15 times.
Under his “Mr. Crafty Pants” moniker, Booth made videos of arts and crafts tutorials using smart cutting machines. He had grown his follower base on Instagram and Facebook to more than 250,000; his YouTube audience reached nearly 600,000 followers. Local Fox affiliate WDKY reported that his most recent video on YouTube was posted about four months ago.
Booth was arrested on Oct. 22 and appeared in court the following day. He pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of distributing matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor under age 12, 15 counts of distributing matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor over age 12 but under age 18, three counts of possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor under 12, and one count of possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor over age 12 but under age 18 (first offense).
His bond was set at $100,000, and he remains in custody at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections. His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 31.