Rape suspect facing extradition to Arkansas

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This article was published 16/07/2019 (2418 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AN Arkansas man is facing extradition to the U.S., after he fled to Winnipeg with his wife and children one week before he was set to stand trial for rape.

The 38-year-old accused cannot be named, as it would identify his alleged victim, his now-18-year-old daughter.

The RCMP filed an affidavit June 10 in support of a warrant for the man’s arrest.

According to the affidavit, the man was denied a request May 13 to delay his trial. A short time later, Arkansas prosecutors learned the man had allegedly begun liquidating his assets.

In a subsequent letter to prosecutors, the man’s lawyer advised he had lost contact with the accused, who, according to siblings, “had fled the area” with his wife and four young children “and did not intend to return.”

The affidavit included a still image of the man’s vehicle entering Manitoba at the Emerson border crossing on May 15. Court records show prior to his arrival, a wire transfer of US$800 was made to the man’s wife in Winnipeg.

Neither the accused or his wife have legal status or ties to Canada, according to the affidavit.

The man’s daughter told Arkansas police in December 2018 her father had repeatedly sexually abused her for three years, beginning when she was 13. Interviewed by police, the man admitted to having sexual intercourse with his daughter two times “and other sex contact,” the affidavit says.

The man’s wife told U.S. police he had admitted sexually abusing their daughter but, “(She) said she felt there was an evil spirit in the home due to the death of a relative… and advised that (he) promised her it would not happen again,” the affidavit says.

The man’s wife “has demonstrated no ability to deter (his) criminal conduct… (and) is charged with failing to take steps necessary to end the conduct and protect her daughter,” the affidavit says. “Given these circumstances… there is a substantial risk of harm to the four minor children if (the accused and his wife) remain at large.”

Both the accused and his wife remain in custody, and will appear in Winnipeg court July 29.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca