A Pulaski County jury ordered a 25-year prison sentence Wednesday for a 32-year-old Jacksonville man who said he mistakenly -- and repeatedly -- sent sexually explicit texts to an 11-year-old girl with autism, social anxiety and depression.
The messages had been intended for the girl's mother, Leroy Levell Jackson IV testified. He also denied having sexual contact with the girl, despite her testimony about how he enticed her into oral sex, and messages retrieved from his phone that graphically describe him performing oral sex.
In closing arguments, deputy prosecutors Michelle Quiller and Claire Maddox said Jackson's guilt was a matter of common sense, telling jurors the child had asked Jackson for a little money to play a game and he used that opportunity to lure her into deviant sexual activity.
The six-man, six-woman jury took about 20 minutes to find Jackson guilty as charged of rape and internet stalking of a child, each count a Class Y felony with a maximum life sentence.
Public defender Brandy Turner called on jurors to impose the minimum sentence, 25 years, and the panel deliberated 11 minutes before returning with a recommendation that Circuit Judge Cathi Compton do just that. Jackson will have to serve at least 17½ years before he can qualify for parole.
Jackson has been jailed since his May 8, 2020, arrest by Arkansas State Police, the same day that authorities had been notified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Facebook had reported intercepting a sexually explicit message between an adult and a child through its Messenger Kids application four days earlier.
Sgt. Ryan Jacks with the state police said he and fellow investigators went to Jackson's home for a "knock and talk," resulting in an interview in which Jackson, after some recollection, said he had sent the message but that it had been intended for the girl's mother. He said he'd been texting them both at the same time and had gotten mixed up.
"He said I made a mistake. I thought I was talking to her mother," Jacks said.
The message, which Jacks read to the jury, was a negotiation for oral sex, with the girl asking Jackson to give her some money to use the online building game Roblox.
"I have five dollars in cash," the message stated.
The girl is reluctant but the offer eventually reached $20 and a soft drink, with Jackson ending the communication, "You're the best."
The report from the Exploited Children was a "priority one" alert, meaning that it had been classified as potential imminent threat to a child, police Special Agent Christiana McKibben told jurors. She said the girl and her mother were surprised and shocked when she went to speak with them without notice. McKibben described how the girl immediately started crying when she realized police were at her house.
The girl's mother told jurors she and her daughter had known Jackson for more than 10 years, and that he had regularly been the girl's caretaker while she was at work. She described her daughter, now 13, as very shy and having autism, depressive disorder and social anxiety, telling jurors she had no idea anything untoward had gone on between Jackson and the girl.
The girl, clutching a colorful stuffed animal during her 12 minutes on the witness stand, recounted the message for jurors, and said Jackson had oral sex with her that same day. She said Roblox was her favorite game.
"He wanted to negotiate ... basically it was sexual favors for money," she said. "It made me feel a little bit disgusted with myself. I was very hesitant to do it."
The girl told jurors that when police showed up at her house she thought she was going to be arrested.
"I felt scared like I had committed a crime," she said, telling jurors she had been "having mental health issues."
The Facebook message about money for oral sex was supposed to go to the girl's mother, Jackson testified.
"We liked to joke around sometimes," he said. "I wasn't looking where I was texting."
Jackson, who spent about 30 minutes testifying, had regularly been the girl's caretaker while her mother was at work. He told jurors he never touched the girl inappropriately or deliberately propositioned her for sex.
But during Jackson's cross-examination, Quiller, the prosecutor, produced another two messages between Jackson and the girl from February 2020 and March 2020, using a different texting app. Those messages, addressed to the girl, show Jackson graphically describing performing oral sex. Those were also sent to the girl by accident while he was texting both her and her mother, Jackson told jurors.
"I wasn't looking where I was texting," he said. "I was texting the wrong person, that's it."
"You must be the most unlucky man in the world, would you agree with me?" the prosecutor asked.
"Everybody makes mistakes," Jackson replied.