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Siloam Springs Man Gets Life In Prison For Raping Child

BENTONVILLE (KFSM) — A jury on Friday (Sept. 28) sentenced a Siloam Springs man to life in prison for raping a 10-year-old girl last year. Jose Rufino-Chi...
Jose Garcia-Chicol

BENTONVILLE (KFSM) — A jury on Friday (Sept. 28) sentenced a Siloam Springs man to life in prison for raping a 10-year-old girl last year.

Jose Rufino-Chicol, 34, was found guilty in Benton County Circuit Court on one count of rape.

Garcia-Chicol faces rape and assault charges in another case with the same girl, but prosecutors will speak to the girl’s family before pursuing those charges, according to Benton County prosecutor Nathan Smith.

“A man’s abuse of a child is among the most repugnant and evil acts imaginable,” Smith said Wednesday (Oct. 3).

“I am grateful that the jury imposed a life sentence on this defendant. I admire the work of law enforcement, deputy prosecutors Tyler Williams and Katie Fisher, and most of all the victim, who had the courage to testify against her abuser.”

Siloam Springs police arrested Garcia-Chicol in December 2017 after the girl said Garcia-Chicol raped or molested her 15 times since 2015, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Garcia-Chicol, 33, denied the allegations and laughed when asked directly if he had sex with the girl.

He told police reports of him kissing the girl were inaccurate, and that they only came face-to-face after she slipped and he caught her, according to the affidavit.

When asked how some of his DNA might be on the girl, Garcia-Chicol said he caught her playing with his used condoms.

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