A 75-year-old Midway man charged with a number of sex crimes against children was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with 10 suspended and 10 to serve during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Friday.
Loy Gene Beard entered a no contest plea to his charges. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
He was arrested in April last year as the result of a joint investigation by the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division and the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office.
The investigation was triggered by a complaint from a parent of one of the alleged victims, according to Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery.
Beard was initially charged with rape, sexual assault in the second degree, sexual indecency with a child and the sexual grooming of a child by a person 21 years or older.
The state reduced the rape charges to 2nd degree sexual assault.
Sexual grooming is described as a process in which a perpetrator gradually gains a victim’s trust with the intent to be sexually abusive. Victims are usually young children, teenagers or even vulnerable adults.
According to experts in the field, grooming can take place in person, on the Internet or in institutional settings.
The offender builds trust with a child and the adults around the child in an effort to gain access to, and time to spend alone with the victim.
If the offender is able to manipulate the child into becoming a cooperating participant, the likelihood of disclosure is reduced.
When he was reciting the facts in the case, Deputy Prosecutor Kerry Chism said Beard had shown a pornographic movie to a young child prior to having sexual contact with the girl.
In order to protect the victims, the court has sealed the probable cause affidavit in Beard’s case.
When Beard was jailed, a no contact order was issued prohibiting him from having contact with the victims, or with anyone less than 18 years of age.
Beard has been held in the Baxter County Detention Center since being arrested in April 13 last year. His bond was set at $150,000.
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