A Hot Springs man was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday after pleading guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to a felony count of rape involving a 12-year-old girl in 2015.
Shawn Michael Hulsey, who turns 22 today, was set to stand trial Oct. 4, but pleaded guilty the day before with sentencing postponed until Friday morning when he appeared before Judge John Homer Wright with his court-appointed attorney, Mark Fraiser. Hulsey was advised that he will have to register as a sex offender upon his release.
Hulsey, who lists a Buxton Loop address, was arrested April 15, 2015, and later released on $25,000 bond on July 23, 2015, so court costs were expunged for time served. He initially pleaded not guilty on Aug. 3, 2015, with a trial set for Jan. 5, 2016.
On Jan. 4, 2016, Hulsey changed his plea to not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect and the trial was postponed until a mental evaluation of Hulsey could be completed. On March 14, 2016, the results of the evaluation were reported and Hulsey was found fit to proceed. Fraiser filed a motion requesting a second mental evaluation, but Wright denied it.
According to the court affidavit, on Feb. 6, a local woman filed a report with the Garland County Sheriff's Department stating she had left her juvenile daughter with a friend and later went to check on her at the friend's residence. When she walked in, she saw a man, later identified as Hulsey, sitting on the sofa next to her daughter who was leaning on him.
She noted Hulsey was only wearing a pair of shorts and her daughters was only wearing panties and a shirt. The woman stated she felt her daughter had been sexually assaulted. She took her daughter to a local hospital to be examined and was referred to Arkansas Children' Hospital in Little Rock where the exam was conducted.
On Feb. 18, the victim was interviewed by Tracy Childress, with Arkansas Crimes Against Children, and stated she met up with Hulsey at the mall earlier in the day on Feb. 6 and after "hanging out for awhile" he went back with her to the residence.
Once there she states he digitally penetrated her and performed oral sex on her. She said he attempted to rape her at one point, but she was able to push him away. She said Hulsey was aware she was only 12 years old.
Local on 10/10/2017