DEWAYNE HOLLOWAY|dewayne@mcnews.online
MOUNT IDA – William Joseph Clingan was sentenced to 600 months in the Arkansas Department of Corrections after pleading no contest to two counts of rape involving someone under the age of 14.
The charges were the result of an investigation stemming from a report of sexual abuse received by a local school resource officer. A statement released last October by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office stated that SRO Deputy Stacy Watson received a report of allegations of sexual abuse by a parent against a child February 26, 2021. Watson took the initial report and called the Child Abuse Hotline before turning the case over to Investigator Greg Harmon.
Members of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office tracked Clingan to Batesville where he was interviewed. A second interview was conducted October 14. He was arrested shortly after the second interview and charged with two counts of rape, class Y felonies.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Debra Bushman stated the factual basis for the charges were that between May 2020 and March 2021 Clingan sexually violated a child under the age of 14.
SRO Stacy Watson commended the teachers at Caddo Hills School for identifying the abuse victim. He stated that they were instrumental in this case.
Clingan pled no contest to both rape charges as part of a plea agreement with the prosecuting attorney’s office. Judge Andy Riner accepted his plea of no contest and sentenced him to 300 months in the Arkansas Department of Corrections for each of the rape charges to be served consecutively for a total of 600 months.