Parole for a Midway man sent to prison after pleading to criminal charges in three counties – including having inappropriate sexual contact with his 12-year-old-niece – has been denied.
Forty-nine-year-old Raymond Scott Chappell was accused of breaking the law in Baxter, Izard and Washington counties.
The most serious of the crimes Chappell was charged with committing was 2nd degree sexual assault in Washington County.
As his Izard County case wound through the legal system, Chappell was given a court-ordered psychological examination.
He was found to have no mental condition that would prevent him from assisting in his own defense, or to render him incapable of understanding the criminality of his conduct.
SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE
In the Washington County case, Chappell pled guilty in mid-March 2019 to the allegations made against him. He was given 20-years in prison – with 12 to serve and eight suspended.
The Washington County Circuit Court also ordered Chappell to register as a sex offender and to have no contact with the victim.
Fayetteville police arrested him on Christmas Day 2017. The father of Chappell’s victim told investigators that his sibling had “confessed” to what he had done.
Initially, Chappell told police he had been high on methamphetamine at the time, but said he was certain he would have remembered such an incident as described by his relatives.
CASES IN BAXTER AND IZARD COUNTIES
Chappell’s Baxter and Izard County charges included possessing drugs and drug paraphernalia.
Chappell’s electronic court records show he actually picked up one new charge while in jail. It was filed after he attempted to bring controlled substances into the Baxter County Detention Center.
The sentences in the cases opened in the three counties are all running concurrently with the one handed down in Washington County.
In the Washington County case, Chappell was required to spend more time in prison than those in Baxter and Izard Counties.
The most recent parole hearing for Chappell, who is housed in the Cummins Unit of the State Prison System at Grady, was held early this month.
In denying the parole, the board indicated the decision would be effective for one year.
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