Trial date set in rape, kidnapping case

TEXARKANA — Trial has been set for January for a man facing charges of rape, kidnapping, burglary and theft in connection with an attack on a 15-year-old girl in September.

David Aaron Love, 24, was scheduled to appear in Miller County circuit court Tuesday but the case has been continued to mid-November. A notation on the continuance document notes a pretrial hearing Jan. 5 and for jury selection Jan. 25.

Love is accused of breaking into the teen’s home shortly before 10 a. m. on Sept. 1 while her parents were at work, according to a probable cause affidavit. The girl was interviewed that afternoon at the Texarkana Children’s Advocacy Center.

The girl reported she noticed the back door was unlocked as she walked to the bathroom about 9:45 a.m. but thought her mother had simply forgotten to lock it. While in the bathroom, the girl reported she heard noises but attributed the sound to the television.

The girl said Love, who is a relative but not a member of her immediate family, was standing in her room when she came back from the bathroom. Love allegedly grabbed the girl and began choking her from behind causing her to nearly lose consciousness.

Love allegedly pushed the girl into her parent’s bedroom and put a jacket over her head while assaulting her. Love allegedly assaulted the girl again in her bedroom and in the family’s living room before using items from the girl’s home to tie her hands and legs and gag her mouth.

The girl reported that Love forced her to walk to her parents’ spare car. Love allegedly forced her to put on a face mask and sunglasses and used shirts he found in the house to tie the girl to the car’s interior.

The girl reported that Love drove around aimlessly for some time and “didn’t appear to know where he was going” before returning again to the house. Love allegedly left the girl tied up in the vehicle and walked to the rear of her residence.

The girl managed to free herself and ran to a neighbor’s house where police were called. Love left in the vehicle and was arrested the following day in Sevier County, Arkansas. He is now being held in the Miller County jail on charges of rape, kidnapping, residential burglary and theft of property with bond set at $250,000.

If convicted of theft of property, Love faces up to six years in prison and a fine up to $10,000. If found guilty of residential burglary he faces five to 20 years and a fine up to $15,000. Both kidnapping and rape are punishable by ten to 40 years or life in an Arkansas prison.