A local man sought on a felony warrant for rape involving a 13-year-old girl last year was arrested late Saturday following a traffic stop in the city.
Dewayne Van Tilmon, 37, who listed his address as "city streets," at the time of his arrest, was taken into custody shortly before 11 p.m. and charged with rape, punishable by up to life in prison. He remained in custody Monday in lieu of $300,000 bond. The charge was filed directly to Garland County Circuit Court and he is set to appear there Oct. 1.
Tilmon was also cited for failure to use a turn signal and impeding traffic by driving below the minimum speed limit which resulted in the traffic stop. He is set to appear in Garland County District Court on Oct. 1 on those charges.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on July 25, 2018, a 13-year-old girl reportedly disclosed during a forensic interview at Cooper Anthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center that she was raped by a known suspect.
The girl stated that about one month prior to the interview, the suspect, identified as Tilmon, came into her bedroom and raped her. During the incident, the girl's mother knocked on the bedroom door and Tilmon hid in the closet and instructed her to get her mother away from the door.
She said Tilmon told her not to tell her mother what happened and "not to snitch on him." When the girl's mother entered the room, she found Tilmon hiding in the closet, but he denied having any inappropriate contact with the girl.
Hot Springs police Detective Jarret Cantrell reportedly interviewed the mother and she confirmed the incident her daughter described.
On July 9, Detectives Brian Branstetter and Hunter Scott assisted Arkansas State Police Investigator Judy Jenson in reference to the case. Jenson noted she had attempted to contact the girl's counselor, her family and Tilmon with no response. It was discovered the same victim and offender had been previously investigated by the ASP Crimes Against Children Division and the report was "found true."
On July 18, the girl was interviewed again at Cooper-Anthony and she again stated she was raped by Tilmon. She reportedly stated she had been raped on more than one occasion by Tilmon and the last time was when she was 13.
During the same interview, the girl's sister reportedly told investigators she had seen Tilmon on top of the victim and that he was holding her down and lifted her dress up. She said Tilmon told her the victim "begged him to do it."
The case file was turned over to the prosecuting attorney's office and a warrant was issued for Tilmon's arrest on Sept. 18. A gag order limiting pretrial publicity in the case was also issued by circuit court Judge Marcia Hearnsberger.
Local on 09/24/2019