A Marion County man has been arrested for failure to appear to a jury trial for rape and sexual assault charges brought against him in November 2020.
According to the probable cause affidavit, 46-year-old Donald J. Merrill was scheduled to appear for a jury trial in the Marion County Circuit Court on November 21 for two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
Merrill was first arrested for the multiple felony sex-related charges in November 2020 following a joint investigation between the Flippin Police Department and Arkansas State Police involving three alleged victims.
KTLO, Classic Hits, and The Boot News previously reported the first case was investigated after receiving reports from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office in Wildwood, Florida. The then 10-year-old victim alleges the incidents involving Merrill occurred in the family home in Flippin. She further alleges the abuse first started when she was approximately 5 years old when the family was living at an unknown location in Louisiana.
Reports from Louisiana indicate a second alleged victim, a 28-year-old female, reports Merrill sexually assaulted her approximately 20 years ago when she was 7 to 9 years old when the Flippin man was married to her mother. She alleges the abuse continued over a two-year period. The victim told law enforcement she never reported the abuse because Merrill threatened to kill her and her family if she ever told anyone. The alleged abuse occurred in the family home in Pyatt.
Reports from the Arkansas State Police Crime Against Children Division note a third victim, a 13-year-old female, alleges Merrill began sexually assaulting her when she was approximately 7 years old. The alleged abuse began in Louisiana and continued in Flippin.
Potential jurors were present, along with the Prosecuting Attorney, his deputy, and the defense attorney. After several attempts to call for Merrill in the courthouse, the judge issued a warrant for his arrest.
Merrill is being held in the Marion County Detention Center on $250,000 cash only bond.
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