A man recently found guilty of sex crimes involving a five-year- old female relative and sentenced to 160 years in prison by a Boone County jury is expected to appeal his conviction.
Thirty-seven-year-old William Lee Alvis II, who lived in rural Boone County when the crimes were committed, was charged with three counts of rape, two counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of sexually grooming a child.
Investigators reported the victim said at one point she was living with Alvis in a tent on a mountain and they would play “sex games.” She also alleged he took photos of her while she changed clothes and would show the pictures to other people.
The victim said Alvis would show her pornographic videos and still pictures on his cellphone. Prosecutors said this was part of the “grooming” process.
After the charges were filed in Boone County, Alvis was arrested in Madison County Iowa where he was living at the time, returned to Arkansas and placed in the Boone County Detention Center.
According to reports in Iowa newspapers, Alvis was arrested without incident in Truro, a town with a population of 500. On the Boone County jail roster, he lists his address as Seymour, Iowa, another small town with a population of 634.
At one point, the defense filed a motion for a psychological exam to determine if Alvis was fit to proceed in his case and to understand the charges against him.
The results of such exams are not made public, but if a case continues beyond the time results are provided to the court, it can be assumed the defendant was found fit.
Prosecutors and investigators have worked the case continously since the crimes were committed in early 2017. Almost seven years elapsed between the filing of the case in late January 2019 and the recent verdict.
The case was continued for a number of reasons – including being held up almost a year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Other factors included a frequent change in defense attorneys, Alvis not appearing in court for various reasons, including claimed medical problems.
In July, the state filed a motion for the purpose of pushing to get the case before a jury.
The jury in Boone County, which deliberated for less than a half-hour before finding Alvis guilty, also recommended that the sentences be “stacked” or run consecutive with each other rather than concurrently or at the same time.
Criminal trials in Arkansas are bifurcated by statute, meaning they are done in two phases – the guilt phase and the sentencing phase during which a penalty is determined.
The jury recommends a sentence to the court. In the Alvis case, Circuit Judge John Putman accepted the jury’s recommendation and formally sentenced Alvis.
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