A Fort Smith man was charged Tuesday in Franklin County Circuit Court with two offenses arising from accusations he had sexual contact with a girl younger than 15.
Circuit court records in Charleston show Ethan Wayne Riley, 25, was charged with second-degree sexual assault and with sexual indecency with a child, both felonies.
If convicted on the assault charge, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and fined up to $15,000. The maximum penalty for a conviction on the indecency charge is six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
According to records at the Sebastian County jail in Fort Smith, Riley was booked into the jail about 7:15 p.m. Monday and released about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday after posting a $50,000 bond.
Court records show Riley was an employee at Maggie House, a residential home for at-risk children in Charleston. The girl with whom he was accused of having contact was a resident in the home.
The criminal complaints stated that Riley had sexual contact or solicited to have deviant sexual activity with a girl younger than 15 from Dec. 1 through Aug. 23.
Riley worked at Maggie House from late 2015 through Aug. 15 as a residential technician responsible for assisting in the day-to-day care of residents, an arrest warrant affidavit said.
The affidavit said Riley began a communication relationship with the girl around March 1. Maggie House staff members learned of the relationship and attempted to end it.
On Aug. 11, Riley was ordered to stop communicating with the girl, but staff members learned Aug. 15 that he continued to communicate with her. He was fired that day, the affidavit said. The communications continued through a texting application until Aug. 28, the affidavit said.
State Desk on 09/22/2016