Siloam Springs man guilty of rape, gets 23-year sentence

A Siloam Springs man was found guilty of raping a girl, but the jury acquitted him of sexually assaulting another girl.

Mark Luper, 47, was charged with rape, a Class Y felony and sexual assault in the second degree, a Class B felony.

He was sentenced to 23 years.

One of the girls testified that Luper had repeatedly sexually abused her. The other girl testified that Luper had once touched her inappropriately.

The jury returned with verdicts Thursday morning finding Luper guilty of raping the girl who testified about the repeated sexual abuse. Luper was found not guilty of sexually assaulting the other girl.

Prosecutors presented testimony from two other women who testified that Luper had also sexually abused them as children. The case was investigated, but Luper was never arrested in connection with the women's allegations.

The women also testified that they had friended Luper on Facebook a few years ago. One of the women testified that she communicated Tuesday night through Facebook with one of the victims.

Luper testified and denied the allegations of ever molesting any children.

Prosecutors also presented testimony and evidence that male DNA was found in the girl's short and that it was almost certainly Luper's DNA.

Luper's defense attorneys Blair Brady and and Kathryn Platt were critical of the girl's claims and the allegations levied by the two women.

Platt told jurors in her closing statements that the girls had told inconsistent stories since Luper's arrest. She also said that prosecutors could not tell how the "deposits" got on the clothing.

"They seem like nice girls, but they are not credible," Platt said.

Platt reiterated that the two women friended Luper on Facebook after making the allegations against him. She also was critical that one of the women had communicated with one of the girls through Facebook during the trial.

Stuart Cearley, chief deputy prosecutor, told jurors that sometimes children have conflicting emotions about their abusers and they don't automatically proclaim their hatred for the abusers.

"This is not a she said he said case," Cearley sad. "This is a he said, she said, she said, she said, she said case plus 1 in 501 billion."

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