BENTON COUNTY (KFSM) – The trial started on Tuesday (Jan. 6) for a Rogers man accused of sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl, officials say.
Stephen L. Betts, 51, was arrested in June 2014 and later charged with second-degree sexual assault, according to court documents.
On June 3, 2014, the victim came to the Rogers Police Department and told authorities Betts sexually assaulted her between the ages of nine and 12, court documents state.
She said that he made her touch him inappropriately, among other activities, according to court documents.
At one point during the interview with detectives, she agreed to make a recorded phone call to Betts, court documents state. The victim called and spoke with him. Betts apologized for everything that happened and said he was “mortified” by his actions. He also said it never happened before and would never happen again, according to court documents.
During the call, the victim told Betts that when she was a kid, he told her that her sins would find her out, so she would have to admit them. She then said she wanted Betts to admit his sins over the phone, court documents state.
He admitted that he forced the victim to touch him inappropriately and apologized for it once more, according to court documents.
The explanation offered by Betts for his actions was that he was so “buried in pornography that is was consuming him,” court documents state. He said he “got caught up in it and could not get out of it, and [he] lost his head,” according to court documents.
On June 6, 2014, an arrest warrant was issued for Betts, and he was later taken into custody, court records state.
His bond was set at $75,000, and on June 24, 2014, he bonded out of jail, according to court records.
Betts was charged with second-degree sexual assault on Aug. 18, 2014, and pleaded not guilty, court records state.
