Man accused of child sex counts

Affidavit says girls 13 at time of encounters with 25-year-old

HOT SPRINGS — A man was arrested on rape and sexual assault charges Wednesday stemming from allegations involving two 13-year-old girls in 2018 and 2019 that came to light in August 2019.

William D’Angelo Pickney Jr., 25, who lists an Amity Road address in Hot Springs, was taken into custody shortly before 2 p.m. on felony charges of rape, punishable by up to life in prison, and fourth-degree sexual assault, punishable by up six years in prison.

Pickney also had been named in a warrant for failure to appear.

According to the probable cause affidavit on the sexual assault charge, on Aug. 12, 2019, Hot Springs police detectives were made aware of an allegation of a sexual offense that occurred at a residence in Hot Springs involving a minor female.

The girl was interviewed Aug. 15, 2019, at Cooper Anthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center and was 14 at that time, according to the affidavit. During the interview, the girl disclosed that she had a 2-month-old child and the father of the baby was Pickney, who was 23 at that time, the affidavit said.

She stated that she had told her mother that Pickney was 17 when they first met because he “looks younger” and that she had consensual sex with him in October 2018, the affidavit said. She said Pickney “didn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want to.”

According to the affidavit on the rape charge, a second girl was interviewed Aug. 14, 2019, at Cooper Anthony. She was 13 at that time. She stated that she was visiting her cousin at a residence in Hot Springs when the father of her cousin’s baby, identified as Pickney, came by to see his child, the affidavit said.

The girl noted that Pickney had to be “snuck in” to the house so her cousin’s mother didn’t see him, the affidavit said. At one point, her cousin went to the kitchen to make Pickney a sandwich and left the girl with Pickney in the cousin’s bedroom, the affidavit said.

The girl said Pickney began raping her but stopped when he heard her cousin returning to the room, according to the affidavit.

Pickney left, but later that night he and the girl were “texting each other” and she agreed to meet him outside the apartment complex to “talk about what happened earlier,” the affidavit said. She said they were walking in the woods, and at two different points they stopped and had sex again, the affidavit said. She noted that it was unprotected sex both times, according to the affidavit.

After police investigation into the incidents, warrants on both charges were issued March 11 for Pickney, according to reports.