Hardin pleads guilty to raping teacher

BENTONVILLE — Amy Harrison faced the man who raped her 21 years ago.

“I know there was nothing I did to make this happen,” she told Grant Hardin Thursday. “I could not have done anything differently, and I definitely did not deserve to be raped. I was just choosing to do the next right thing in my life when you bumped into me.”

Harrison appeared nervous at first, tears in her eyes. Her voice grew stronger as she spoke.

“So, now I am going to use my free will to overcome the evil you did to me. I am going to walk out of this building with my family and friends and enjoy the fresh air before I go home. I hope that my story is an encouragement to all survivors who fight for justice.”

Hardin, 50, pleaded guilty Thursday to raping Harrison at Tillery Elementary School in November 1997 as the teacher prepared lessons on a Sunday morning. The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette usually doesn’t name victims of sexual assault, but Harrison agreed to be named, according to Benton County Prosecutor Nathan Smith.

Harrison gave her victim impact statement after Hardin’s plea. She talked about that day and how it changed her life. People in the courtroom could be heard crying as she spoke.

“I got to face him and got to look at him while I read my statement and that felt really good,” she said later at a news conference at the Rogers Police Department.

Hardin, a former police chief and constable, pleaded guilty to two counts of rape. His jury trial was to begin Monday, but Hardin avoided two possible life sentences by pleading guilty.

This story will be continued in next week’s Pea Ridge TIMES.