BENTONVILLE -- Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren sentenced a Rogers man to 72 years in prison Tuesday for assaulting and raping a woman.
A jury found Logan Morrison, 31, guilty of aggravated assault and rape Tuesday. The jury deliberated for more than two hours before returning with the guilty verdicts.
Morrison criticized the police investigation for not proving his innocence.
"I do not find fault with the court or the jury," Morrison said before his sentencing.
He said he will appeal his convictions and continue efforts to prove his innocence.
Morrison was arrested in October 2o19 in connection with the crimes.
The woman, who was homeless, testified she met Morrison while sitting behind a store, and he offered to let her sleep in his tent with him. She said she remembered waking up without her pants and being in pain. She suspected she had been sexually assaulted.
Prosecutors presented DNA evidence connecting Morrison to the crime.
Jurors listened to an audio recording of Sgt. Larry Taylor with the Rogers Police Department interviewing Morrison. He admitted to stealing the woman's bag, but claimed he didn't sexually assault her.
Morrison said he may have accidentally choked the woman when he was stealing her bag.
Prosecutors presented evidence the woman had ligature marks around her neck, a swollen tongue and other physical injuries.
A 26-year-old woman testified during the sentencing Morrison sexually abused her for years during her childhood. She said the abuse began with him touching her and the abuse became more violent.
"He would corner me, strangle me and lay on me," she said. "Sometimes he would have a knife and threaten me."
She said the abuse began when she was 2 or 3 years old and ended when she was 10. She said Morrison was five years older than her.
Morrison testified during the sentencing phase and admitted to sexually abusing the girl when he was a child, but claimed he hadn't reoffended.
Morrison told jurors he his father physically abused him.
He was charged as a habitual offender and faced 10 to 60 years or life imprisonment for the rape conviction. He faced up to 12 years in prison for the assault conviction.
Tyler Williams, deputy prosecutor, told jurors Morrison didn't deserve any mercy.
"The way he disregarded her life and strangled, raped and beat her warrants the maximum sentence," Williams said.
Lee Warden, Morrison's attorneys, urged jurors to recommend a sentence less than the maximum in order for his client to have an opportunity to rehabilitate himself.
The jury recommended Morrison serve 60 years in prison for the rape and 12 years for the aggravated assault. The panel recommended the sentences be served consecutively. He will have to serve 44 years before he is eligible for parole.
Tracy M. Neal can be reached by email at tneal@nwaonline.com or Twitter @NWATracy.