A local man arrested in 2014 on multiple counts of rape and kidnapping involving five women was sentenced Thursday to 33 years and nine months in federal prison stemming from one case that occurred on West Mountain in Hot Springs National Park.
Lynn Terrance Breckenridge II, 28, of Hot Springs, was indicted in July 2015 in U.S. District Court in Hot Springs on felony charges of kidnapping and aggravated sexual abuse by force and pleaded guilty to the charges on Feb. 27, 2017. In addition to prison time, Breckenridge will be on supervised probation after his release for the rest of his life.
Additional state charges of rape and kidnapping involving the other four victims were dismissed as part of the plea agreement, but the testimony of the other four victims was to be used as part of his federal sentencing, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joe Graham said at the time of Breckenridge's guilty plea in 2017.
Graham said he talked to the other victims and they all agreed with the decision, noting Breckenridge, who had remained in custody since his last arrest Oct. 9, 2014, would continue to remain in federal custody until his sentencing.
Graham said that, under federal guidelines, Breckenridge will have to serve about 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for release. He said federal prisoners can knock off only 56 days per year of their sentence for good behavior.
Graham said the state initially filed charges against Breckenridge regarding the incident on West Mountain, but they dismissed the charges because the incident fell under federal jurisdiction, since it occurred on federal property.
Graham, at the time, said the federal case was the strongest of the five with DNA evidence and other factors involved. "It was the best case out of all of them."
According to federal court records regarding the incident, Breckenridge spoke to a Hot Springs woman who was walking her dog, a Siberian husky, in the early morning hours of Oct. 5, 2014, and offered her a ride under the guise he and the woman had a mutual acquaintance and that he would drive her and her dog back to the place where she was living. The woman accepted the ride and she and her dog got inside Breckenridge's car.
Instead of taking the woman where he had promised, Breckenridge confined her inside his car and drove her and her dog throughout Hot Springs, preventing them from getting out of the car. Eventually, he drove them to West Mountain, which is part of Hot Springs National Park and under exclusive federal jurisdiction. There, Breckenridge threw the woman's dog out of the car, sexually assaulted the woman, threatened to kill her and continued to hold her against her will.
Sometime after she was sexually assaulted, the woman escaped from the vehicle and ran and hid from Breckenridge until she was able to flag down a passing taxi. She was later taken to National Park Medical Center for treatment and evidence collection.
Subsequent forensic examination of evidence obtained from the woman's body and clothing at the hospital revealed bodily fluids that were later matched to Breckenridge's DNA.
According to the original Hot Springs police news release, Breckenridge was first arrested on Oct. 5, 2014, in connection with a string of abductions and rapes of young women that reportedly began in April 2014 with the last incident occurring Oct. 5, about 12 hours before his arrest. The victims included two aged 20, two aged 24, and one aged 32.
Breckenridge was also charged with three misdemeanor counts of theft of property for taking the cellphones of two victims and taking the fifth victim's dog, which he still had with him when he was arrested later that day.
After his arrest, Breckenridge was questioned and admitted to having sex with the victims, but claimed each of the victims willingly participated in sex acts with him. He said after each encounter, an argument would ensue and he would tell them to get out of his car.
He reportedly denied ever having a gun but admitted to taking the one victim's dog and taking cellphones from two of the women.
This case was investigated by the FBI, Hot Springs police and the National Park Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kyra Jenner and Candace Taylor prosecuted the case for the United States.
Local on 07/27/2018