Former HSPD officer pleads guilty to sexual assault charges

A former Hot Springs police officer arrested last year after molesting a 9-year-old female on multiple occasions pleaded guilty to the charges Tuesday in Garland County Circuit Court.

Paul Henry Allen, 41, of Hot Springs, who resigned from the Hot Springs Police Department the day before his arrest on May 3, 2017, pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree sexual assault and was sentenced to six years' probation and 120 days in jail. Allen began serving his jail sentence Tuesday in a different county.

Allen, who has been free on $10,000 bond since shortly after his arrest, was also fined $6,000, ordered to pay $670 in court costs and must complete counseling and sex offender treatment. He was also barred permanently from any contact with the victim or her mother and cannot live with minors.

Hot Springs Police Chief Jason Stachey had previously noted Allen joined the HSPD in May 2005 and had achieved the rank of officer first class prior to his resignation on May 2.

The case was prosecuted by the Little Rock prosecutor's office after the Garland County prosecutor's office recused to avoid any conflict of interest.

According to the affidavit, on April 27, 2017, former sheriff's Sgt. Mike Wright and Investigator Jennifer Tonseth were forwarded a report from the Child Abuse Hotline indicating a 9-year-old female had disclosed to her schoolteacher she had been molested by a known suspect, identified as Allen.

The female was interviewed at the Cooper Anthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center that same day, with the interview audio and video recorded. Wright and Tonseth later viewed the recorded interview.

The female disclosed the abuse began on Jan. 6, 2017, in Garland County. She said Allen on more than one occasion had rubbed her buttocks, both on top of and underneath her clothing. She could not recall how many times the incidents occurred but noted it was more than once with the last incident occurring on April 17.

She said she would sometimes pretend to be asleep when Allen touched her "because she was scared," the affidavit states.

Investigators reviewed text messages allegedly exchanged between Allen and another person, including one text in which Allen stated he once tried to move the female's hand toward his privates, but she woke up and he stopped.

In other text messages, Allen admitted to squeezing and touching the female's buttocks "four to five times" and that he stated he is " (expletive) sick" and "sorry for what he did" and that he didn't want to go to prison.

Local on 05/12/2018

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