A Cotter man pled no contest to an amended charge of sexual assault during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday and was sentenced to 20-years in prison.
Thirty-six-year-old Roger Hicks, Jr., was set to go before a jury but chose to plead instead.
Hicks’ plea was taken by retired Circuit Judge Gordon Webb who was appointed by the Arkansas Supreme Court to assist in working through the backlog of cases in the 14th Judicial District caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The investigation into the case that brought Hicks to court was launched when Hicks himself reported the alleged rape of his then 11-year-old daughter by three unnamed men in an unnamed trailer park in Midway.
The case traveled a somewhat winding road but ended up with Hicks being arrested and charged with having sex with his child.
Hicks made his visit to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office in late January 2019 where he laid out the story about the rape.
During the investigation, the spotlight turned fairly quickly to Hicks himself as a possible suspect.
As part of the initial investigation, the daughter was examined and was found to have methamphetamine in her system.
During an interview with an agent with the Crimes Against Children Division of the Arkansas State Police, the victim said she had tried methamphetamine while living with her father in Cotter.
The victim alleged she and her then six-year-old sibling had found a small plastic bag with some “white stuff” in it on the kitchen counter, and that she had stuck her finger in the substance and then put the finger in her mouth.
The girl also said she had found needles around the property on two occasions, and that she had once had once taken a syringe away from a younger sibling who also lived in the family’s home along Dalton Avenue.
In the probable cause affidavit, Hicks is described as a “known and admitted” methamphetamine user.
As the investigation into the original rape report continued, Hicks’ story about the three mysterious men at the unnamed Midway mobile home park began to crumble.
DNA samples finally caused his story to collapse completely. The items of clothing the victim wore the night of the alleged attack were sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory to be examined.
The lab reported finding three DNA samples on the victim’s clothing consistent with having a common source.
A court order was obtained and a DNA sample was taken from Hicks. The Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) section at the crime lab reported the samples taken from the victim’s clothing matched the sample provided by Hicks.
At one point, Hicks agreed to be questioned, but the interview ended abruptly when he was shown the DNA results from the crime lab.
The original rape charge was filed following receipt of the DNA information.
Then, prosecutors dismissed the rape case at the victim’s request. Circuit Judge John Putman signed the order in November 2019.
In January 2020, the rape case was re-filed.
Hicks will be required to register as a sex offender.
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