Jury convicts ex-Boone County man of child rape

By Brennan David

An Arkansas man faces up to 52 years in prison on charges of rape and child molestation after a two-day jury trial in Boone County Circuit Court.

A Boone County jury convicted Jon Paul Reid, 40, of Barling, Ark., last night after nearly three hours of deliberation. The jury today recommended sentences of 30 years for first-degree statutory rape, 15 years for first-degree child molestation and seven years in prison for first-degree child endangerment. A charge of incest was dropped before the trial.

Circuit Judge Kevin Crane will formally sentence Reid on June 13. Reid could serve a maximum of 52 years in prison if Crane orders the three sentences to be served consecutively. A sentencing assessment report has been ordered.

Reid did not testify, but his 12-year-old adopted daughter, the victim, was the prosecution’s first witness. The victim was 10 years old at the time of the sexual activity, which started in Sturgeon and continued after a move to Arkansas. The girl told the jury Reid had attempted to have intercourse with her, had her perform oral sex, took showers with her, let her smoke marijuana and even had her urinate on him.

Because Reid threatened to kill himself if she told of the sexual abuse, the victim said, she lived with the secret to not “take Dad from my brothers.”

Caught in a custody battle, the girl said that because she feared Reid, she gave Arkansas school officials a false story about abuse from her mother to support Reid’s custody case.

“I did what I felt I had to do,” she said of the lies she told to teachers and others.

During closing arguments, Boone County Assistant Prosecutor Tracy Gonzalez highlighted the girl’s ability to provide a detailed description of Reid’s anatomy. “The only way an 11-year-old girl can give a description of a penis is if she experienced it herself,” Gonzalez told the jury.

She described Reid as a manipulator who placed fear into the child he adopted upon marriage to her mother.

Public defender Derek Roe argued to the jury the case was about revenge for the girl’s mother, who wanted custody. He alleged the mother made up the molestation story and convinced her children to go along with it.

“They were coached. That’s why her statements are so different,” he said. “She would forget to mention things” during earlier questioning and a deposition “because she couldn’t remember what she said.”

Roe’s trial questioning concentrated on inaccuracies in the victim’s statements.

Much of the trial testimony was regarding incidents that occurred outside Boone County, and that testimony was permitted based on past precedent. Reid also faces a fugitive-from-justice charge in Sebastian County, Ark.

Members of Bikers Against Child Abuse and Grandparents and Others on Watch Inc. were present during testimony. Both groups work to raise awareness to prevent the sexual assault of children. The bikers were noticeable, inked with tattoos and dressed in full biker gear, while Dan Peek of Grandparents and Others on Watch attended wearing a bright yellow jacket.

“We chose yellow so you know we are here,” Peek said of his jacket.