The jury trial for a former male nurse at the Baxter County Detention Center charged with making inappropriate sexual contacts with female inmates has been delayed due to a change of lawyers.
The case was filed in September 2023 and will be almost three years old at the time the jury trial opens which is now set for August 10. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled in early July.
At one point, the case appeared headed to a resolution short of a trial but hit a snag when 41-year-old Samuel John Sparks apparently balked at a plea offer the state made and changed lawyers. Sparks is charged with three counts of 4th degree sexual assault.
There have already been 16 continuances granted in Sparks’ case since it was filed.
In late January, Sparks hired the Little Rock-based James Law Firm to represent him after Mountain Home attorney Ben Burnett withdrew from the case. The new firm filed several motions on Sparks’ behalf on March 19, including motions to suppress statements and evidence in the case.
Circuit Judge Andrew Bailey told an attorney with the James firm who appeared with Sparks on Monday that he was sympathetic to lawyers needing time who have entered cases close-by trial dates to familiarize themselves with the case but said the Sparks’ case was “getting very old” and “we need to get this tried.”
BACKGROUND
Sparks worked at the detention center from January 25, 2022, until he was terminated August 7, 2023.
According to the sheriff’s office, Sparks was responsible for providing nursing care to inmates, dispensing medications as prescribed, coordinating inmate sick call requests to see the Nurse Practitioner and following up with aftercare recommended by the Nurse Practitioner.
According to information on the State Board of Nursing website, Sparks’ license was surrendered voluntarily on the basis of sexual misconduct.
THE CHARGES
On August 4, 2023, a female inmate made a complaint that Sparks had engaged in inappropriate contact of a sexual nature with her in the detention center.
An investigation was launched into the inmate’s allegations. Three inmates or former inmates were interviewed on the same day the initial complaint was made.
In all, 10 inmates sat for interviews. They are identified in the probable cause affidavit by initials only.
According to the sheriff’s office, accusations of inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature were made against Sparks by more than one of the inmates questioned.
At one point, Sparks told investigators he had conducted what he described as “breast examinations” of female inmates at their request. He said the exams were done as part of his duties as a jail nurse.
Investigators found that Sparks had made no notes in inmate medical charts of the “requested” breast examinations.
Several conversations between Sparks and inmates contained references to quid pro quo arrangements. In more than one instance, Sparks is reported to have basically said, “here’s what I can do for you what can you do for me?”
One inmate told investigators she had requested a Tylenol and warm compress from Sparks to treat an eye problem. She said he asked her what she intended to do for him and she said she did not plan to do anything for him. Sparks is alleged to have said, “that’s not how it works in here. If you do stuff for me, I will do stuff for you.”
He told investigators during an interview that much of the back-and-forth banter about the quid pro quo arrangements in the jail “was just me joking around.”
Investigators contacted a Nurse Practitioner who works with the jail nursing staff and she said she would never ask the jail nurses to conduct a breast examination. She said that was “something the jail nurses should not do.”
Sparks has been free on bond.
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