Judge sets trial date in sex-assault case

Ex-jail official accused of inmate abuse

TEXARKANA — A woman accused of sexually assaulting a prisoner while she was a Little River County jail administrator is scheduled to go to trial in November.

Mary Ann Gibson, 44, is scheduled for a pretrial hearing Nov. 1 and a trial Nov. 14 in Little River County Circuit Court in Ashdown. Ninth Circuit Judge Charles Yeargan set the pretrial and trial dates.

Gibson is accused of fourth-degree sexual assault of a male inmate and furnishing prohibited articles to the same prisoner, according to the arrest affidavit.

The sexual assault charge is a Class D felony with a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000. The Class C felony of furnishing prohibited articles to an inmate carries a sentence of three to 10 years and a maximum fine of $10,000.

According to an affidavit, Gibson sexually assaulted 36-year-old Steven Chad Carmack from May 2015 through August 2015 while Carmack was serving a jail sentence for failure to pay child support. Gibson was the jail administrator during that time.

Carmack has since died. Three boys playing in the woods near the Jack’s Isle community in Little River County found Carmack’s body hanging from a tree March 12, according to reports from the sheriff’s office. Carmack’s family had reported him missing Jan. 31.

The body was found about 100 yards from the last section of houses in Jack’s Isle. The community is near the southwest side of Millwood Lake in Little River County.