It was anticipated that a man charged with two counts of sexual indecency with young sisters would accept a plea offer in the case when he appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court last Wednesday.
But, when he was brought into the courtroom, 67-year-old Richard Peter LePage announced that he “recanted” signing the plea agreement.
He told the court he had been “under stress” when he agreed to plead guilty to the charges against him.
LePage said he also wanted to hire a private attorney. He is now represented by a public defender.
Circuit Judge John Putman said a new scheduling order would be prepared in LePage’s case. He said he wanted the public defender to stay on the case until LePage was able to hire a private attorney.
It is alleged that LePage committed sexual acts with the two girls beginning when they were five-to-six years old. The victims are now in their teens.
INCIDENTS BEGAN IN 2017
The alleged incidents are reported to have taken place in a 12-month period beginning in July 2017 and ending in July 2018.
According to the probable cause affidavit, after the death of the girls’ mother, they moved into their grandmother’s residence in Baxter County.
At the time, Lepage was identified as the grandmother’s “boyfriend.”
The victims are said to have visited the grandmother’s house on weekends even before their mother’s death
The girls told investigators LePage started touching them inappropriately when they were only five-or-six-years-old.
According to investigators, the victims said Lepage would touch them while they were in bed at night.
They reported telling their grandmother what was happening at one point, but she “did not believe them.”
INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED
An investigation was launched when a therapist at a Central Arkansas residential mental health treatment facility called the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline. One of the victims was a resident at the treatment facility at the time.
Investigators talked to both girls and then they were interviewed at Grandma’s House Children’s Advocacy Center in Mountain Home.
A victim said she remembered waking up one night and finding a naked LePage lying on top of her. The victim said when LePage realized she was not asleep he quickly departed.
According to the probable cause affidavit, LePage was interviewed at a residence in Pyatt. He denied touching the girls.
While he claimed he never touched the girls, he did admit he had masturbated and positioned himself where they could see him.
One of the victims also recalled a time when LePage had been naked and masturbating. She said, “He did not seem to care” the girls could see him.
SAID SORRY TO GRANDMOTHER
He told investigators he thought he had made amends to the victims for his actions by apologizing to their grandmother.
LePage maintains there was a single incident involving masturbation. He said he did not remember when it happened, but felt it had to be before 2010 — the year he quit drinking.
LePage agreed to come to the Criminal Investigation Division offices at the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office for a formal interview on Feb. 22.
He is reported to have come for the interview but immediately invoked his right to have an attorney present and said nothing.
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