A Saline County circuit judge sentenced the 58-year-old manager of a Benton trailer park to 20 years in prison on Friday after the man was convicted of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl, prosecutors said.
Judge Ken Casady presided over the trial, which saw Lewis Beauchamp convicted of rape and second-degree sexual assault, according to a news release by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Bush.
The investigation began when a resident at the park provided police with a video of Beauchamp kissing and touching a 9-year-old girl on Sept. 1, 2018, the release states. Though the man who gave the video to police died before the trial took place, prosecutors said deposition preserved his testimony.
The girl told investigators that Beauchamp had touched her and had sex with her, the release states.
Beauchamp fled the state shortly before his trial was set, according to the news release. He was located by U.S. Marshals in Florida after a multistate search and extradited to Arkansas, according to prosecutors.
The release states that Beauchamp was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison, with five years of suspended imposition of sentence.
"This is a good example of the community working together to bring a sexual predator to justice,” Prosecuting Attorney Chris Walton said in the release. “Without the cooperation of concerned neighbors, the Benton Police, the U.S. Marshals Office and my office, this crime would have gone unpunished.”