Longnecker arrested on rape, sexual assault charges
John Clifford Longnecker, 77, was arrested Friday by Bella Vista police on charges of two counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault in the second degree.
On Monday afternoon he was being held in the Benton county Jail on a $150,000 bond.
Longnecker who lives at 5 Penbroke Lane, is accused of inappropriately touching four pre-teen girls over a period of years.
Police began investigating when the parents/ step-parents of some of the children called police just before midnight on July 20 to report that one of the children, who now lives elsewhere in Arkansas with her mother, was watching a movie when she said to a sister, “That kinda looks like when John touches us on the bottom,” according to a probable-cause affidavit field in Benton County Circuit Court by detective Lt. Barb Shrum.
The mother called the father, who lives in Bella Vista, to report what the girls told her. The father called the police.
He reported that when they moved into their home, they were befriended by Longnecker and his wife, Sharon. Longnecker would have the children over to help him in the garden as well as to play games on his cellphone.
The children were interviewed Thursday at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Benton County.
The court document states that the girls all reported similar instances of being touched while either sitting on a couch in the man’s home or on an orange bucket in the back yard. They said he touched them through their clothing and under their clothing. They used anatomically correct dolls to re-enact the actions, the court document states.
The girls reported he would ask, “Is that the spot,” while rubbing them.
Locknecker and Sharon Longnecker were asked on Friday to come to the police station in regard to a case.
Sharon Longnecker arrived first. She told detective Shrum that she was always home when the children visited. She told Shrum, according to the court document, that when they were over they would huddle up on a couch together and that when they watered the roses they were in the far backyard.
When told of the accusations, Sharon Longnecker said that her husband touched a girl when she was 5, but didn’t disclose it until after she married. She said that at that time John told her he touched a neighbor child. During family talks, the court document states, it was revealed that he may have touched two other girls. All those incidents happened in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
“Sharon stated she thought she had been vigilant with the girls that were in their house, but evidently not enough to stop him,” the court document states.
Longnecker, when confronted with the accusations during his interview, stated “My life’s over.” After asking about the process of what would happen, he was allowed to leave to take care of some business, with the agreement he would return in 30 minutes.
He returned as agreed. During the following interview, he outlined situations that matched what the girls reported.
Rape is a class Y felony that carries the penalty of 10 to 40 years or life in prison. Sexual assault in the second degree is a class B felony that carries the penalty of five to 2o years in prison and a fine of up to $150,000.