Bentonville man gets 30-year term for rape, assault of 3-year-old girl

BENTONVILLE — A Bentonville man was sentenced last week for the rape and assault of a 3-year-old girl.

Tristan Nathaniel Tiarks, 33, sat with his head on a courtroom table Thursday and sobbed after hearing his guilty verdicts after about five hours of jury deliberations. Later, after an additional half hour, jurors recommended concurrent sentences of 30 years for rape, 10 years for battery and six years for aggravated assault.

Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green followed the jury’s recommendation.

Tiarks was arrested last year after a nurse at Mercy Medical Hospital Emergency Center in Bella Vista reported to police in January 2019 that a girl was taken there with injuries from a suspected sexual assault, according to a court affidavit.

The girl was interviewed at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Benton County where she said Tiarks had wrapped a green towel around her neck that had made it difficult for her to breathe, according to the affidavit.

At trial, prosecutors tried to have the now 4-year-old girl testify, but she wouldn’t go into the courtroom.

Prosecutors presented testimony concerning the girl’s injuries. The girl’s medical examination revealed linear marks around her neck indicating she had been choked, according to a probable cause affidavit. An examination also found evidence associated with sexual assault or abuse, according to the affidavit.

The girl’s mother testified she left her daughter for about 45 minutes while she went to the store.

Tiarks denied raping or otherwise hurting the child. He testified that the girl’s mother or someone else influenced the girl to make the allegations against him.

Tyler Williams, deputy prosecutor, asked Tiarks why the mother would do that.

“I have no idea,” Tiarks said.

He faced 25 to 40 years or life imprisonment for raping the girl.

Kimberly Weber, Tiarks’ attorney, urged jurors to recommend the minimum sentence.

“I’m here to beg for mercy,” she said in her closing statements, as Tiarks continued to sob. “I’m here to beg for the life of Tristan Tiarks.”

Weber asked jurors to recommend a 25-year sentence of which Tiarks would have to serve 17½ years before he would be eligible for parole.

“He is remorseful and devastated, as you can see,” Weber said of her client.

Williams told the jury that Tiarks’ crimes weren’t a minimum-sentence case.

“He didn’t show her any mercy,” Williams said. “He raped her to the point where she suffered massive injuries.”

Williams said in her closing statement: “I hear his tears. Those are for him. They are not for that little girl.”

Tiarks will have to register as a sex offender. The judge ordered him not to have any contact with the girl or her family members. She also ordered him not to have any unsupervised contact with minors.

“You can never again be alone with anyone under 18,” Green told Tiarks.

Weber said they were disappointed and plan to appeal the verdicts.

“I am grateful that the jury convicted this defendant for preying on a 3-year-old girl,” Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith said. “Sexual crimes against defenseless children are despicable, and our society must never tolerate this evil. My prayer is that this verdict will help the victim heal as she grows older and understands that our community held this man accountable for the crimes he committed against her.”

Tiarks was a licensed physical therapist. His license was suspended in January by the Arkansas Board of Physical Therapy.