HOT SPRINGS -- A registered sex offender accused of raping a 9-year-old girl in 2017 was convicted Thursday of the lesser offense of second-degree sexual assault after a two-day trial in Garland County Circuit Court.
Stephen James Cash, 25, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Cash has remained in custody in lieu of $75,000 bond since his arrest July 21, 2017, and is classified as a habitual offender with a Level 3 sex offender rating.
The eight-man, four-woman jury heard testimony about his previous arrest in 2006 in Hot Springs when he was 13, involving the rape of a 4-year-old, and allegations he had previously raped his 9-year-old sister and the 9-year-old sister of his 4-year-old victim.
Cash was convicted in 2013 in Garland County of failing to register as a sex offender and sentenced to five years in prison. He was convicted in 2015 in Cleveland County, Okla., of second-degree rape and rape by instrumentation and sentenced to 15 years in prison, with all but two years suspended, on each count.
The jury deliberated for about an hour before finding Cash guilty of sexual assault Thursday and for less than 10 minutes before recommending the maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
According to the affidavit, on July 21, 2017, Garland County sheriff's investigators began a case regarding the rape of a 9-year-old based on an Arkansas State Police hotline report. The victim was interviewed that day and described the assaults, stating, "this has happened a lot and no one believes her." She said the assaults occurred in different rooms in her residence, where Cash was also living.
When he was brought in for questioning, Cash denied all the allegations, stating that in January the girl had a dream about him "and that's all it was, was a dream."
Cash did not testify at his trial.
In earlier testimony, it was revealed there were seven adults -- Cash, the victim's mother and her fiance, the victim's aunt and uncle and the victim's grandparents -- and six children living in the residence when the incidents occurred.
NW News on 08/25/2019