SEARCY — Police on Wednesday arrested a man who, they said, repeatedly stabbed a Searcy woman and then raped her 12-year-old daughter.
Police had earlier obtained an arrest warrant Wednesday afternoon for Aaron Ray Rash, 29, on charges of rape and first-degree battery, both felonies. Rash’s last known address was Bald Knob, police said.
The White County sheriff’s office arrested Rash in Searcy without incident shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday after getting a call about “a suspicious person in the area,” police spokesman Brittany Eacret said.
According to an earlier police news release, the assailant ran away after stabbing the woman multiple times early Tuesday evening as she tried to prevent him from raping her daughter. Eacret said the assailant used a pocket knife.
The mother was taken to a hospital and is expected to live, Eacret said. Eacret did not know the woman’s condition. The child has been released to family members, Eacret said.
After the man fled the woman’s home, the mother and her daughter rushed to a neighbor’s home to call 911, police said.
Eacret said the mother was friends with the suspect’s sister and he had come to the family’s home to visit.
“That was the first time that they [mother and daughter] had met him,” Eacret said.
Police said Rash is a registered sex offender and also has a parole violation.
Arkansas, Pages 14 on 12/22/2012