Jeremiah Selfridge of Mountain Home, charged with having sexual relations with a close female relative, will formally accept a plea agreement at 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to an announcement made during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
The 19-year-old Selfridge was charged after an incident that occurred in January last year at a residence along Buzzard Roost Cutoff. The victim, a close female relative of Selfridge’s, reported she had been sexually assaulted by Selfridge.
Selfridge is now charged with rape and incest.
At one point, the attorney representing Selfridge had filed motions for a psychological evaluation to determine if Selfridge was fit to proceed in the cases against him. While the report based on the evaluation is sealed, it can be assumed Selfridge was found fit to proceed since the case remained active.
Selfridge’s current attorney, Andrew Bailey, filed a motion just a few days ago in which he asked the court to allow him to present evidence of prior sexual conduct of the alleged victim in the case.
In his motion, Bailey wrote that the evidence would be essential to the presentation of the defense because it demonstrated motivation for the alleged victim to make what he termed false allegations.
Bailey argued that a denial of the motion would violate Selfridge’s constitutional rights.
Since a plea agreement was reached, it was not necessary to hear the motion.
According to investigative records, Selfridge was at the victim’s residence on January 23 last year. At bedtime, the victim said Selfridge asked if he could lay down on the bed with her. The victim said Selfridge began making advances toward her, she was unable to push Selfridge off of her, and he had sex with her.
Investigators reported that when they interviewed Selfridge he admitted he had sex with the female victim.
At one time, Selfridge was also charged with stealing five firearms from another relative, but those charges were dropped in early October last year since the victim indicated he did not want to pursue the case.
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