BENTONVILLE -- A Level 3 sex offender, already on probation for being on school grounds, has been arrested in connection with raping two girls.
Aaron Paul Adams, 41, of Bella Vista was arrested Friday on charges of two counts of rape, a Class Y felony.
According to court documents, Adams is accused of sexually abusing 8-year-old and 12-year-old girls in 2011.
Bentonville police began the investigation after the older girl disclosed that she was abused by a then-neighbor, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
The older girl reported that she and the younger girl were in Adams’ bedroom looking for a pet when Adams locked the door behind them, the affidavit states. She claims that Adams forced the pair to perform oral sex on him and threatened to kill them if they did not, according to court documents.
According to the affidavit, the girl said she waited to tell because she lived near Adams and he threatened to kill them if they told anyone.
Adams denied that he had ever touched the girls in a sexual way when first questioned by police, court documents reflect. Adams described the older girl as troubled and claimed that she had twice touched him in a sexual manner, the affidavit states.
According to the affidavit, Adams also claimed that he suffered brain damage from a car accident and he now takes medication for seizures. Adams told police that the girls could have had sexual contact with him in the bedroom, but he could not remember because of his medical condition, the affidavit states.
Adams then told police he remembered waking up and the two girls were sexually assaulting him, the affidavit states.
Adams also denied ever threatening the girls and told police he only told them not to tell anyone after he caught the pair fondling him, according to court documents.
Adams was placed on four years state supervised probation in December 2012 after pleading guilty to five counts of registered offender prohibited from entering upon a school campus, a Class D felony.
Chris DeWitt, Bentonville School District transportation director, contacted Bella Vista police in September 2011 concerning Adams being in his office with the mother of two children, according to court documents. DeWitt told police Adams was the woman’s boyfriend, and the woman was the legal guardian of a student at R.E. Baker Elementary School and a student at Old High Middle School.
A bus driver saw Adams and the woman walk into DeWitt’s office and the bus driver informed DeWitt he recognized Adams from a sex offender notification given when Adams moved into the bus driver’s neighborhood, according to an affidavit. DeWitt said he also was aware Adams had been at Sugar Creek Elementary School.
Police also learned that Adams had been on the grounds of Baker Elementary, according to court documents.
Adams pleaded guilty to the court without the benefit of a plea agreement, so Adams’ punishment was up to then-Circuit Judge Jon Comstock.
Prosecutors requested prison-time, but the judge placed Adams on probation with an ankle monitor.
Adams has been convicted of three counts of indecent exposure involving separate incidents while he lived in California, according to court documents.
Adams was being held Sunday in the Benton County Jail with a $150,000 bond set.