Alcon avoids prison

Former DHS worker fined for assault

BENTONVILLE — Jorge Alcon came to court Friday morning expecting to go to prison, but the same jury that convicted him of sexual assault recommended he be spared prison time.

Alcon, a former program assistant for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, faced a possible 20-year prison sentence. The jury found him guilty Thursday of sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl in a restroom while taking her on visits to see relatives.

The jury deliberated for more than two hours Friday before returning with a sentencing recommendation.

Circuit Judge Brad Karren read the recommendation to a silent courtroom while Alcon, 73, stood between his attorneys. The four men and eight women recommended Alcon pay a $15,000 fine. The judge followed the recommendation and also ordered Alcon to register as a sex offender and not to have any unsupervised contact with minors.

Alcon’s family members and friends hugged after the proceedings ended.

One person testified on Alcon’s behalf Thursday, and defense attorneys presented three more character witnesses Friday morning who described him as a good and trustworthy person. They said the criminal charge was out of character for Alcon and not the man they knew.

Jay Martin, one of Alcon’s attorneys, said they were grateful for the jury’s decision. The jury deliberated for 11 hours before returning with the guilty verdict, and Martin said he thought they were going to acquit his client.

“They did not want him to go to prison,” Martin said.

Alcon provided transportation and supervision for visitations for DHS. The girl was in foster care.

The now 6-year-old testified Alcon showed her his “pee-pee” and asked her to touch it while she was in a bathroom with him.

Jurors spent hours listening to police interviews of Alcon where he described the 4-year-old as the sexual aggressor and said he never touched the girl in a sexual manner.

Carrie Dobbs, deputy prosecutor, told jurors Alcon didn’t deserve mercy nor leniency. She asked jurors to consider Alcon victimized the girl for his own sexual gratification. Dobbs said Alcon worked for 15 years at the department and he chose to victimize an already damaged and wronged child.

She described the girl as smart, strong and sweet.

“She is resilient,” Dobbs said. “She deserved his mercy,” but he didn’t give it to her, she said.

Valerie Goudie, one of Alcon’s attorneys, said her client’s age means any time in prison could be a life sentence.

“We don’t know if he will walk out of prison if you give him 20 years,” she told the jury before they started deliberation.

Goudie urged the jury to have mercy on her client.

Dobbs told jurors the girl was the one that deserved the mercy, not the man who repeatedly took her to a bathroom and sexually assaulted her.

Benton County Prosecutor Nathan Smith said a Department of Human Services worker convicted of molesting a child in his care deserves to be incarcerated.

“While I am grateful for the jury’s guilty verdict in a difficult case, their decision to only sentence the defendant to pay a fine is disappointing,” Smith said. “My prayer is that the victim and her family can come to understand that while justice in this life is sometimes imperfect, it is always perfect in the next.”

The judge followed the jury’s recommendation and ordered Alcon to pay a $15,000 fine. He must also pay $675 in court costs.

Alcon