Man gets two 25-year terms for child rape

A Van Buren man was sentenced Friday in Crawford County Circuit Court to 25 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of rape of a person younger than 14.

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Circuit Judge Gary Cottrell gave Randall Christopher Chaney, 29, two 25-year sentences, to run concurrently, according to court records. Imposition of an additional 15-year sentence was suspended.

Prosecuting Attorney Marc McCune announced the sentencing in a Facebook post Friday that said Chaney will be eligible for parole after serving 17½ years of the sentence. According to court records, Chaney was accused of having sexual intercourse or deviate sexual activity with the minor in 2014 and 2015.

He has been held in the Crawford County jail in lieu of $100,000 bond since his arrest April 1.

Chaney underwent a mental evaluation in September by forensic psychologist Paul Deyoub, the case file showed.

Deyoub's report, filed in court in November, concluded that at the time of the rapes, Chaney had a mental defect but not a mental disease. He had the capacity for purposeful, knowing conduct, to appreciate the criminality of his conduct, and to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.

"It is my opinion his primary diagnosis was personality disorder," Deyoub wrote. "This is a character disorder, not a mental disease."

State Desk on 01/23/2016

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