By: Tammy Curtis, Managing Editor
Just seven months after 16th Judicial Deputy Prosecutor Dwayne Plumlee charged a Fulton County man with 14 counts of rape and four other sexually related felonies on Aug. 4, 2022,the suspect is headed to prison. Cody Rivers Redding, 26, was escorted out of Fulton County Circuit Court on March 20 by a Fulton Count deputy to begin serving 40 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections for rape, a Class Y Felony. Just one day after interviewing the victim, obtaining Redding’s confession, investigators and police executed a search warrant, Redding was arrested. The arrest came after a six-year-old female victim relayed information to her grandmother the day before about “a game” she was forced to play with Redding. The “game” included sexual details consistent with rape. The child was interviewed in Craighead County by an Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Advocate who provided the child with anatomically correct diagrams of a male and female body. She was able to identify both male and female parts of the anatomy, including nicknames Redding had given each. The child further provided the interviewer with detailed accounts of the things that occurred during the “games” with Redding. She also provided details of pornography she had been shown by Redding related to the anatomy she identified in the diagrams. In a Post Miranda Interview with Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Investigator and Fulton County investigator, Lt. William Fawcett at the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department, Redding made a voluntary statement admitting to raping the child since she was five-years-old in various ways “about fourteen times”. Redding also provided officers with details of where various items used in the crimes that were described by the child were located. A search warrant later yielded the items. Redding was charged with 14 charges of the Class Y Felony of Rape, which carries a 40 year to life sentence on each charge; and two counts of each Sexually Grooming a Child; and Sexual Indecency with a Child, both Class D Felonies. Redding’s bond was set at $350,000 by 16th Judicial District Circuit Judge Tim Weaver on Aug. 4. Redding remained incarcerated in the Fulton County Detention Center on the charges since his arrested. The case was promptly prosecuted by then16th Judicial Prosecuting Attorney Eric Hance and Deputy Prosecutor Dwayne Plumlee, just a day after the crime was reported and victim confessed. Redding entered a voluntary guilty plea and was sentenced to 40 years on the rape charge with the other charges being nolleprossed. Deputy Prosecutor Drew Smith worked the case with Plumlee for the state. Redding was also ordered by Circuit Judge Tim Weaver to pay Public Defender Joe Denton and the court costs in the case.
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