BENTONVILLE -- Their faces were the only thing visible as the three small girls sat in the witness stand Wednesday afternoon and identified their teacher -- Mr. Ollie -- as the man who had sexually abused them.
Mr. Ollie is Ali Matar Jr., who was the girl's teacher in Adventure Club at R.E. Baker Elementary School in Bentonville. Matar, 22, is charged with rape, a Class Y felony and two counts of sexual assault in the second degree, a Class B felony. He is accused of sexually abusing three of his students in the after school program.
At A Glance
Possible Sentences
If convicted, Ali Matar Jr. could be sentenced from 25 to 40 years or life imprisonment for the rape charge. He could be sentenced from five to 20 years in prison on each of the sexual assault counts.
Source: Staff Report
Matar was arrested May 14 in connection with raping a 5-year-old girl. He was arrested days later in connection with sexually assaulting two 6-year-old students.
A 5-year-old girl was the first to tell her mother Matar touched her inappropriately. She was the first child to testify during the trial.
She's now 6-years-old and in the first grade. She was dressed in a striped-colored dress. The girl said Wednesday afternoon Matar tickled her in her "private area" while she playing on the computer in the library.
Carly Marshall, deputy prosecutor, showed the girl a drawing with female body parts. She asked the girl to circle the location of her private area in the drawing. The girl circled the area on the drawing.
Justin Hurst, one of Matar's attorneys asked the girl if she was ever alone with Matar. He wanted to know if other teachers and her friends were always around.
She responded, "yes," to Hurst's question.
The second girl, dressed in a green and purple shirt with jeans, is 7-years-old and in the first grade. She said Mr. Ollie was her teacher in Adventure Club. She was 6 years old at the time.
"He touched my privates," the second girl said when questioned by Marshall.
The girl also circled the "privates" in the photograph.
She said she was in the computer lab when Matar touched her on the outside of her "private parts." She said other children were in the computer lab.
Hurst wanted to know if the girl remembered being interviewed at the Children's Advocacy Center of Benton County and reporting "Mr. Ollie" hadn't inappropriately touched her.
The girl said she couldn't remember.
The judge allowed Hurst to play a recording of the girl's interview at the Children's Advocacy Center, however, the jury wasn't in the courtroom.
She didn't disclose any abuse and said in the interview she liked Mr. Ollie.
"You would agree that you said Mr. Ollie was nice to you and he was always nice to you," Hurst asked the girl when jurors returned to the courtroom.
"Yes," the seven-year-old replied.
Hurst asked the girl if she remembered saying in the interview no one touched her on top of or under her clothing. The girl said she remembered.
"Do you know what your job is here today," Marshall asked the girl.
"To tell the truth," she said.
The girl said she was telling the truth about Matar inappropriately touching her.
The third girl, who is also 7 and in the first grade, was the last witness called by prosecutors. She wore a burgundy shirt and a dark colored skirt.
"Did something bad happen with Mr. Ollie?," Marshall asked.
"He touched me in a private spot," she replied.
She also a circled an area that she said is her "potty" in the picture Marshall showed her.
The girl said she was playing in the cafeteria when Matar touched her. The girl said other students and teachers were also in the cafeteria.
Each of the girl's identified Matar's booking photograph as "Mr. Ollie."
Prosecutors rested their case at the end of the third girl's testimony.
Circuit Judge Brad Karren denied a motion from defense for a directed verdict.
The defense called two witnesses before the judge ended the proceedings for the day. Both witnesses were from the Arkansas Crime Laboratory and concerned the lack of body fluids and DNA evidence against Matar.
Jurors spent Wednesday morning watching Matar's interrogation with Dahrron Moss, a Bentonville police detective. Matar agreed to come to Bentonville's Police Department to speak with Moss.
Matar denied touching the girl at one point during the two-hour long interview. However, Matar admitted to inappropriately touching the girl four different times.
Matar claimed in the interview he accidentally touched the then 5-year-old girl when he attempted to pull her hand out of her shorts.
Testimony will continue Thursday morning.
Matar is being held in the Benton County Jail with a $250,000 bond set.
NW News on 01/29/2015