Ex-officer charged in girl’s sex assault

HOT SPRINGS — A former police officer was arrested early Wednesday on felony charges and accused of molesting a 9-year-old girl on multiple occasions in Garland County beginning in January.

Paul Henry Allen, 41, of Hot Springs, who resigned Tuesday from the Hot Springs Police Department, was initially arrested by police in Malvern and taken to the Hot Spring-Garland County line, where he was taken into custody by Garland County sheriff’s deputies shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Allen was charged with four counts of second-degree sexual assault, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. He was released on $10,000 bond and is to appear in court May 15.

“As of May 2, Mr. Paul Allen has resigned from the Hot Springs Police Department,” Police Chief Jason Stachey said. “The Garland County sheriff’s department along with Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children are still in the process of conducting an investigation [into the allegations] to ensure complete objectivity and transparency.”

Stachey noted Allen joined the Hot Springs Police Department in May 2005 and had achieved the rank of officer first class before his resignation.

An order limiting pretrial publicity in the case was issued Wednesday morning by Garland County District Judge Meredith Switzer Rebsamen. Stachey declined to comment further, citing the order.

According to the affidavit, sheriff ’s Sgt. Mike Wright and investigator Jennifer Tonseth were forwarded a report April 27 from the Child Abuse Hotline indicating a 9-year-old girl had told her schoolteacher she was molested by Allen.