Man sentenced for sexual assault
A local man who had consensual sex with a girl who was 13 years old at the time was sentenced to 20 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty in Garland County Circuit Court.
Marquise Lamar Stringer, 20, appeared before Judge Marcia Hearnsberger and pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault, which was reduced from an original charge of rape, punishable by 25 years to life in prison, and was sentenced to the maximum of 20 years.
Stringer, who had no prior criminal history, is barred from any future contact with the victim and will have to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. He was also ordered to pay $420 in court costs, including the sex offender registration fee.
Deputy Prosecutor Joe Graham said Thursday he had met with the victim’s mother and that it was her decision to make the offer to reduce the charge. Under the original rape charge, Stringer faced a minimum of 25 years and would have had to serve at least 17 years and six months of that before being eligible for parole.
He said the victim’s mother “thought that was too steep a sentence for what happened,” since the sex was reportedly consensual and there was some indication Stringer didn’t know how young the victim was at the time of the incidents.
“It didn’t really matter if he knew and that doesn’t give him a defense, but she felt this was more fair.”
According to the affidavit, on April 23, around 1:30 p.m., the victim’s mother states she returned to her residence early from work and heard a noise from her bedroom. When she opened the door she found her daughter having sex with an unknown male.
She states she screamed at the male and attempted to block him in the residence until she could contact Hot Springs police, but he refused to stay and fled on foot.
The victim later told police she was introduced to the suspect, identified as Stringer, through a mutual friend. She admitted she had sex with him on three or four other occasions.
The victim’s mother was shown a photo lineup with six males and identified Stringer as the male she had seen with her daughter. A warrant was issued and he was taken into custody on April 30 and had remained in custody since then.