FAYETTEVILLE — A Hindsville man has begun serving a 20-year prison sentence for having sex with a 12-year-old girl.
Quentin Lance Cormier, 32, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree sexual assault.
Under the conditions of a plea agreement, prosecutors reduced the original rape charge to the lesser assault charge.
“The plea agreement was consistent with the wishes of the victim and her family,” said Brian Lamb, Washington County deputy prosecuting attorney.
The sentence is the maximum allowable for second-degree sexual assault.
The girl told Arkansas State Police that Cormier raped her in September at his home in Hindsville.
Cormier told police the sex was consensual and the girl “came onto him” while they were watching a movie. He later wrote a letter of apology.
Cormier still faces a rape charge in Benton County in connection the rape of a 15-year-old girl.