Altus man held on 2 new charges

— Authorities said the parents of a Crawford County girl came forward to say that an Altus man raped their daughter after seeing news accounts that he’d been arrested on charges related to child pornography.

Kenneth Gene Mendenhall, 38, of Altus was charged Wednesday in Crawford County Circuit Court with one count each of rape and second-degree sexual assault of a minor, deputy prosecutor Scott Houston said.

Crawford County Circuit Judge Mike Medlock issued a warrant for Mendenhall on Wednesday and set bond at $500,000, according to a news release from the Arkansas attorney general’s office.

No arraignment date had been set on those charges.

Authorities sought the warrant against Mendenhall after interviewing the girl, Houston said. Investigators interviewed Mendenhall, as well, but they said that he did not admit to the allegations of rape or sexual assault.

The rape and sexual assault occurred sometime between 2006 and last month, Houston said.

Mendenhall was charged in Franklin County Circuit Court last week with six counts of distributing, possessing or viewing material depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child after an investigation by the attorney general’s office.

On those counts, he is being held in Franklin County jail in lieu of $30,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned July 5 before Circuit Judge William Pearson.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 8 on 06/28/2012

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