Benton police arrested a man Tuesday after he was accused of drugging and raping a boy after being released on bond in a similar case, police say.
The purported victim told police that James Gilliam, 32, made contact with him online, picked him up at the boy's residence and took the victim to his home, Benton Police Department Lt. Kevin Russell said in a statement. There, the boy said Gilliam provided him with illegal narcotics and raped him.
Gilliam was arrested Thursday, and police seized "numerous items of evidence" from his Benton home as part of the investigation, Russell said.
Gilliam is charged with rape, introduction of a controlled substance into the body of another person and trafficking of humans, but additional charges could be forthcoming, the report states.
Russell said that Gilliam was previously arrested in November, when another boy told police that Gilliam approached him in Tyndall Park and took him to Gillian's home, where the boy was purportedly drugged and raped. Gilliam was charged in that case with rape, introduction of a controlled substance into the body of another person, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, authorities said. He was released on $10,000 bond, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.
Russell said Gilliam's bail was initially set at $1,000,000 when the arrest warrant was signed Tuesday by a circuit court judge, but it was reduced to $100,000 at a Wednesday bond hearing.
Gilliam is currently in custody at the Saline County jail.
Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more on this story.