A Yellville man who received a seven-year prison sentence in 2017 for having sex with a close female relative is now facing two brand new charges, including a second set of allegations based on violations of registered sex offender reporting requirements.
Twenty-eight-year-old Jeremiah Wayne Selfridge, who was 18 at the time the initial sex crime was committed, was originally charged with incest and rape in the Criminal Division of Baxter County Circuit Court.
The rape charge was dropped as part of a negotiated plea agreement and Selfridge pled guilty to a single count of incest.
Selfridge’s most recent arrests came in March. In one case he is charged with being in a public park. As a registered Level 3 Sex Offender, Selfridge is not permitted to be in a number of locations, including parks.
He was jailed on March 16. He pled not guilty to charges contained in one of the new cases during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division on March 30 and a hearing was set for early June.
The other new case was not set up at the time of the March 30 appearance.
According to the Baxter County Sheriff’s office, Selfridge and two other people were reported to have entered a Gassville city park in the early morning hours of March 3.
A Gassville Police Department officer found Selfridge and the others in a vehicle. Selfridge is alleged to have told the officer his vehicle was overheating and he had pulled into the park to let it cool down. The officer reported seeing no corroborating evidence to back up the overheating claim.
Information on the encounter with Selfridge was taken to the 14th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney’s office and a criminal charge was filed against him and an arrest warrant issued.
The other two people in the car were not charged, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.
CHARGES BASED ON ACTIONS IN JAIL
After Selfridge’s arrest stemming from the park incident, he got into more trouble when he was being booked into the Baxter County Detention Center. He was reported to have refused to follow instructions from jail staff and used force against jailers attempting to restrain him.
He was reported to have been sitting in the booking area where he made a number of phone calls in an apparent attempt to find someone who would bond him out of jail.
According to the probable cause affidavit, it was decided that Selfridge had spent enough time making calls and that he need to be taken to a cell. He was to be taken to B pod because no isolation cells were available.
Selfridge disagreed with the decision and said he needed to make one more call. He refused to get off the bench in booking and a jailer stood him partially upright. At that point, Selfridge is alleged to have balled up his right fist and drew it back with a clear intent to punch the jailer.
Selfridge was taken to the ground and another deputy arrived to render assistance. During the struggle, the second jailer was injured when he struck his knee on the concrete floor and was taken to Baxter Health.
As a result of the incident in the jail, Selfridge was charged with battery on an officer, third degree assault, and impairing the operations of a vital public facility.
INITIAL CASE OF NONCOMPLIANCE
After Selfridge was released from the state prison system on the incest charge, he is alleged to have initially been in noncompliance with sex offender registration requirements in both Baxter and Craighead Counties. The charge in Baxter County was based on an allegation that Selfridge was living near a school, public park, youth center, daycare or church. The charge in Craighead County is failure to report changes in his living arrangements as required.
In court papers filed in Craighead County, Selfridge listed his address as being along a county road in Bono, a small town north of Jonesboro. On May 12 last year, Selfridge reported to the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office for his six-month verification check on information he is required to provide as a registered sex offender.
He is alleged to have said there had been no change in his living arrangements. Selfridge told the deputy he lived in Bono and in Yellville. He was told dual addresses would not comply with reporting requirements and he said to list only his Bono address.
The Craighead County Sheriff’s Office reported being contacted by the property owner of the residence in Bono where Selfridge said he was living. The owner said he had evicted Selfridge and took possession of the property on May 9 last year. He said when he inspected the residence, he found it abandoned with the water shut off and very little furniture inside.
Because Selfridge had been evicted on May 9, but said he was still living there on May 12, a warrant was issued for failure to comply with the requirements imposed on a registered sex offender. The Craighead County Circuit Court case was dismissed in November last year, leaving the matter to be handled in Baxter County.
FOUND LIVING IN MH
According to a probable cause affidavit in the Baxter County case, Selfridge was found to be staying at an address in Mountain Home. Investigators pointed out that Selfridge would not have been allowed to move to the address along East 16th street in Mountain Home because it was in close proximity to two schools.
When Selfridge was contacted, he denied living in Mountain Home and said he had only been visiting for a few days.
Neighbors, however, told a Baxter County sheriff’s deputy that Selfridge had been seen at the address multiple times since November 2024.
Selfridge was said to have refused to provide information to update his registration to show a temporary residence in Mountain Home.
Selfridge’s $15,000 bond in the 2025 case was recently revoked.
He is listed as a Level 3 (high level) sex offender, meaning he could have strong antisocial, violent or predatory personality characteristics. Those in Level 3 also have a relatively high probability of reoffending.
ORIGINAL BAXTER COUNTY SEX CASE
The victim of the assault that led to Selfridge’s eventual conviction on the original incest charge filed a report with the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office in late January 2016.
She said the assault took place in her residence along Buzzard Roost Cutoff. Selfridge was reported to have been visiting the victim at the time. She said at bedtime Selfridge asked if he could get into bed with her. According to her account, the victim allowed Selfridge to come to bed with her in order to protect a younger female relative who also lived in the house from being a potential target of unwanted advances by him.
When the sexual contact began, the victim said she was not able to persuade Selfridge to stop verbally and couldn’t push the six-foot-two-inch teen off of her.
After having sex with the victim, Selfridge is reported to have left the bed and gone into the living room where he slept on a couch.
The lawyer representing Selfridge on the original charges filed motions to have his client evaluated to determine if he was mentally fit to proceed in the case or to understand the criminality of his acts.
While the report on the evaluation was sealed by the court, it can be assumed Selfridge was found fit since the case remained active.
On May 16, 2017, Selfridge entered a guilty plea to the incest charge and received the 84-month prison sentence. It was at that time he was required to register as a sex offender.
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