A Hot Springs man sentenced to life in prison earlier this year for the 2013 rape of a local woman pleaded guilty Monday in Garland County Circuit Court to an additional count of rape involving a 12-year-old girl last year and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
James Eugene Sharp, 33, who had remained in custody on zero bond since his arrest May 10, 2016, in connection with the rape of the juvenile, also pleaded guilty Monday to a felony count of third-degree domestic battery involving an assault on his wife and was sentenced to the maximum of six years.
Additional felony charges of terroristic threatening involving Sharp's wife and video voyeurism involving the juvenile were withdrawn as part of the plea agreement. Sharp had been set to stand trial Tuesday on the rape charge and Oct. 23 on the battery, terroristic threatening and voyeurism charges.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Joe Graham said Tuesday the juvenile victim had wanted to avoid having to testify at a trial and approved the plea offer being made to Sharp, who had previously indicated he was willing to plead guilty.
Both sentences issued Monday are to run concurrently with each other and with his life sentence from his conviction June 21 after a one-day trial. A nine-man, three-woman jury took only seven minutes to convict Sharp in the Sept. 25, 2013, rape of a 46-year-old woman, and 23 minutes to recommend the maximum sentence after hearing testimony from the juvenile victim in the 2016 rape.
Public defender Tim Beckham, who represented Sharp at his rape trial and at Monday's hearing, said Tuesday an appeal of his life sentence was mandatory and is pending, noting the trial transcript is currently being prepared.
Graham said, "I don't think there is anything for him to appeal. Everything was pretty clean."
DNA from the juvenile's rape had led to Sharp's arrest in the 2013 home invasion rape which Deputy Prosecutor Kara Petro described as "every woman's worst nightmare" after his conviction. She said the victim was a stranger to Sharp and he had entered her apartment through a window in the middle of the night and threatened her with a weapon to commit the rape.
Graham had previously said "if it wasn't for the minor victim coming forward (the 2013 rape) would have never been solved."
According to the affidavit on the juvenile's rape, on May 9, 2016, Garland County sheriff's investigators received information from the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline about the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl by a known suspect, identified as Sharp.
The next day, the juvenile was interviewed at the Cooper Anthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center, and said Sharp had molested her numerous times between the ages of 11 and 12. She also said while she was in a bathroom, she saw Sharp's cellphone over the shower curtain and believed he was recording video.
Investigators learned Sharp was attempting to flee to Georgia to avoid arrest and took him into custody at a local motel that same afternoon.
According to the affidavit on the battery charge, on April 29, 2016, Sharp's wife said she was told Sharp had sexually abused a 12-year-old girl, but when she confronted him he denied the allegations.
On May 9, 2016, the wife said Sharp asked her if she would ride with him to pick up a check, which she agreed to do. During the drive, she said Sharp accused her of cheating on him and struck her several times. He later drove down a dirt road, assaulted her again and threatened to kill her if she reported the sexual abuse of the girl.
His wife was observed to have bruising on her left breast, upper left arm, left forearm, left hip, left knee and left shin.
It was determined the video of the girl was uploaded to Sharp's email account and, on May 17, 2016, a search warrant was executed on the account. On June 5, 2016, investigators received a CD from Google containing four videos of a girl while undressing, which was identified as the 12-year-old. The voyeurism charges were filed June 16.
On June 27, 2016, a report from the crime lab determined the DNA submitted from the 2013 rape matched DNA from Sharp submitted by sheriff's investigators in the rape of the 12-year-old. The second rape charge was filed against Sharp on Aug. 15, 2016.
Local on 08/16/2017