The Arkansas State Medical Board suspended the license of a Fort Smith physician on Tuesday and launched an investigation into his alleged sex crimes, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
According to Sebastian County Circuit Court records, LaDaryl Lankford faces five felony charges: rape, second-degree sexual assault, video voyeurism, possession of digital child pornography and the introduction of a controlled substance into the body of another.
The medical board did not mention Lankford by name at Tuesday’s brief special-called meeting, but chairman Ward Gardner said the “allegations of a most severe nature” constituted “an issue of public health, safety and wellness.”
A public records request to the medical board confirmed Lankford was the subject of the meeting. There was no audible objection from any board member to the motion to suspend Lankford’s license and investigate the allegations.
Lankford allegedly committed rape and sexual assault against victims who were “incapable of consent because they were physically helpless” and introduced a controlled substance to the body of another “with the purpose to commit any felony sexual offense.” These situations occurred between Jan. 1, 2021 and March 30, 2025, according to court documents.
The charges of video voyeurism, which involves recording someone who “has a reasonable expectation of privacy and has not consented to the observation,” and possession of child pornography occurred between Jan. 1, 2016 and March 30, 2025, according to court documents.
The arrest warrant for Lankford, 46, was issued April 21, and he was arrested April 28, according to court documents. He pleaded not guilty April 30, and he is scheduled to stand trial in September.
Lankford obtained his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 2005 and applied for his license to practice family medicine in 2007, according to medical board documents.
In 2015, Lankford was among several defendants in a medical malpractice lawsuit from the widow of a deceased Mulberry man, allegedly for failing to provide timely medical care to the man’s abdominal issues that led to his death. The case was dismissed in 2017, re-filed in 2018 and dismissed again in 2020.
State Medical Board records show that in 2019, it issued Lankford a warning after he was found to be prescribing opioids to patients before providing the board with proof of registration to the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.
The board has addressed allegations of sex crimes and improper administration of drugs against multiple physicians in the past year. In August 2024, the board revoked the license of gastroenterologist Alonzo Williams of Little Rock. The board rejected sexual harassment charges against Williams but accepted charges of negligence and malpractice, including improper opioid prescriptions.
In September 2024, the medical board began an investigation into Forrest City physician Sudesh Banaji, who has been charged with rape and sexual assault. A former employee of Banaji’s later accused him of sexual harassment.
The medical board denied Banaji’s request in December to return to practice with some restrictions while the legal action against him is still pending.
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