A rural Mountain Home man who is currently being held in the Baxter County jail on charges of sexual indecency with a child and sexual assault now faces addition charges of rape, according to Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery. The sheriff says 19 year old Edward Lee Vanscoy III has been in jail since late September on a bond revocation related to charges filed the previous year on the sexual indecency and assault charges. Bond on the felony rape charges has been set at $100,000.
Montgomery says officers from his department were contacted in late June by the Arkansas Crimes Against Children Division regarding a complaint from a 12 year old girl, an acquaintance of Vanscoy, who said he had raped her in his home about three weeks earlier. The child was examined and an undergarment, which had been kept by her parent, was taken into evidence and sent to the state crime lab for analysis where DNA evidence was found on the garment.
In September of last year investigators obtained a search warrant to collect a sample of Vanscoy’s DNA for comparative analysis by the crime lab which was determined to be a match, according to the sheriff. Tuesday, the sheriff and his investigators were notified by the lab there was a match between Vanscoy’s DNA and the evidence found on the child’s garment.
Based on this evidence, additional charges were made against Vanscoy Tuesday., according to Sheriff Montgomery.
Vanscoy was first arrested on September 9th and charged with five counts of third degree sexual assault. The then 18 year old was charged with having sexual contact with two girls, aged 12 and 13, on five different occasions. The incidents occurred at several locations, including an apartment complex and a park, according to court records.
He was released from the Baxter County jail the following day after posting $10,000 bond.
While free on that bond, Vanscoy was rearrested and charged with sexual indecency with a child. In the probable cause affidavit laying out the details of the new charges, it was alleged that Vanscoy had sex with a 14-year-old girl after he and his mother were allowed to stay in the apartment occupied by the 14-year-old and her mother because Vanscoy and his parent were homeless.
When questioned by investigators, the girl admitted to having sex with Vanscoy three times, twice in the apartment where she lived and once at another residence in Mountain Home.
Vanscoy admitted to “making out” with the girl, but denied having intercourse with her. He also told investigators that he had sent a sexually explicit picture of himself to the girl via text message.
He is set to appear in court January 26th.
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