Business owner arrested in sex case

A North Little Rock man who owns a trucking company was arrested Tuesday after police say he paid to rape two teen girls who were victims of sex trafficking earlier this month, according to police documents.

North Little Rock police arrested Hugh O. Daniels, 73, Tuesday after a 17-year-old boy reported possible human trafficking of minors to police earlier this month, according to a police report.

Daniels is charged with rape, sexual indecency with a child and patronizing a victim of human trafficking, accused in the assault of a 14-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl on Sept. 15 at the Bel-Air Motel and Apartments, a police report said.

Kimberly Latrice Hatton, 34, was arrested on a charge of rape on Sept. 17 and is also listed as an offender in the human trafficking case, according to the police report. Hatton’s role in the criminal operation is not defined in the police report, but she is listed as a family member of both victims.

Daniels owns Hugh O. Daniels Trucking Company in North Little Rock, according to public record and the police report. Daniels was arrested at his home at 4200 Baucum Pike. Daniels was in the Pulaski County jail Tuesday in lieu of a $100,000 bond, according to the jail’s roster.

Hatton is listed as unemployed and was arrested at her home at 3408 Alma St. in North Little Rock, according to the report. Hatton was in the Pulaski County jail in lieu of a $60,000 bond, the roster said.

Arkansas law says patronizing a victim of human trafficking is a Class A felony when the trafficking victim is a minor. Class A felonies carry a minimum sentence of six years and a maximum sentence of 30 years. Rape is a Class Y felony, which carries a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of 40 years to life.

The role of the 17-year-old boy who reported the crime wasn’t explained in the report.

Hatton was arrested in 2010 on a charge of first degree criminal mischief, court records show. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years’ probation and a fine of $1,500.

Daniels was arrested once in June of 1984 on a charge of public intoxication, according to court records. He pleaded guilty and spent one day in jail.