Less than a year after a registered Level Two sex offender was arrested last June for allegedly raping a nine year old female, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison by Circuit Judge Tim Weaver on April 17.Chad Michael Huckabee,40 and his wife, Lori Huckabee, 39, of Mammoth Spring first made the news last year after the couple were arrested in the case. Chad was originally charged with rape, a Class Y felony. Lori was arrested and charged with permitting the rape of the child, a Class B Felony,
According to the Affidavit of Probable Cause filed in Fulton County Circuit Court, after investigators with the Crimes Against Children Division of the Arkansas State Police (CACD)conducted an interview with a female child who disclosed to them that Chad allegedly performed “deviate sexual acts” on her while she was in the care of him and his wife, Lori. The child also told the investigator that on one occasion Lori had entered the bedroom and told her husband to stop. While he stopped, Lori did not report the crime. This allegedly happened a second time, while Lori was in the same bed and she reportedly told him to stop and he did, but she again did not report the crime, according to court documents. On June 28, Chad Huckabee, was charged in 16th Judicial District by Prosecuting Attorney Eric Hance, with Rape, a Class Y Felony, punishable by 40 years to life in prison. At that time, he had already been convicted of “Indecent Acts and Liberties with a Child under the age of16” on May 29, 2008and required to register as a sex offender, The couple were held in the Fulton County Detention Center. Bond was originally set by Judge Weaver at $200,000cash or professional for Chad and $100,000cash or professional for Lori. Chad posted a $100,000 bond on Aug.17 through T-Gard Bail Bonds agent Mary Jo Morris. Lorie also posted a bond of $50,000 with T Gard Bail Bonds on Aug. 18.Due to the ability for both defendants to post high bonds, their court appointed public defenders filed motions to withdraw as counsel in the cases as is a requirement of the state. Chad hired Justin Downum, and Lori, retained attorney Mark Cooper. Under Chad Huckabee’s negotiated guilty plea, he was found guilty of a reduced charge of Second Degree sexual assault, a Class B felony. He was taken into custody at the time of his plea and will spend 180 months in the Arkansas Department of Corrections for the crime and required to remain a registered sex offender and pay court costs, DNA sampling fee of$250, $150 in court cost and a $1500 fine. Lori Huckabee was in court with her attorney just over a month before her husband’s sentencing on March 6. At that time, Judge Weavers at pretrial hearings in her case for June 26with a jury trial set for July 13-14.
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