A Bentonville man was sentenced Monday to spend four decades in state prison after he sexually assaulted a developmentally-disabled woman at his workplace.
Rickey Lynn Carson, 56, sexually assaulted a 20-year-old Huntsville High School student who was taking classes at the Cave Springs Pathfinders, a nonprofit facility that helps developmentally-disabled clients become more independent, according to police. Carson was an instructor at the facility.
Cave Springs police arrested Carson in February, and he was charged with felony first degree sexual assault. Police said the assault occurred on Jan. 23.
Carson was seen on video tape sexually assaulting the victim on two separate occasions in the facility’s “time out room”, according to an arrest affidavit from Benton County Circuit Court.
The victim’s mother provided medical documentation showing the woman’s mental age equivalent to that of a three to five-year-old child. Carson confessed to the assault and told police he was sorry. He wrote apology letters to the victim and her family, the affidavit states.
Judge Robin Green sentenced Carson in Benton County Circuit Court.
