Photo: Devontae James Sipps
A 19-year-old Mountain Home man, charged with two felony counts of sexual indecency with a child, appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday. He entered a not guilty plea to the charges against him.
Devontae James Sipps is an inmate in the Baxter County Detention Center with his bond set at $25,000. He has been ordered to have no contact with the victim in the case.
According to the probable cause affidavit, investigators found a 14-year-old female had left her residence Sept. 16 without parental consent and was reported to have joined Sipps in a room at a local motel. When she returned home several hours later, her mother became concerned with how her daughter was behaving. It was discovered the teenager had been smoking marijuana while she was “hanging out” with Sipps.
When police interviewed Sipps, he admitted to smoking marijuana with the girl and having “consensual sexual intercourse” with the juvenile.
He told police the pair had sex on one other occasion.
Sipps was initially booked into the Baxter County jail in late July to be held for authorities from Hardin County, Kentucky on a probation violation.
According to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, there was a significant delay on the part of Hardin County officials in making arrangements to bring Sipps back to Kentucky. There were a number of false starts, including a couple of failed attempts to have a prisoner transport company do the job. Finally, the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office staff indicated permission was being sought to allow one of their deputies to travel to Mountain Home and return Sipps to the commonwealth.
That, however, did not happen.
A spokesman for the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office said the jail staff was told if no one showed up by midnight Aug. 23 to extradite Sipps to Kentucky, he was to be released. When no one came for him, Sipps was set free from the Baxter County Detention Center about 6 a.m. Aug. 24. He had been in the county jail for almost a month on the probation hold from Hardin County.
Sipps was put back in jail Sept. 17 on the sexual indecency with a child charge filed in Baxter County Circuit Court.
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