A North Little Rock car dealer accused of raping a 13-year-old girl whom police say he had hired for sex was released on $160,000 bond Tuesday night after persuading a circuit judge to reduce his $1 million bail, which prosecutors acknowledged was unusually high.
Defense attorney Lee Short had asked Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson for $50,000 bail for Clarence Eugene "Beau" Turnbo. The 61-year-old defendant did not testify.
He's also facing gun charges stemming from a police investigation into a complaint by his former secretary that he had bullied her into posing for "questionable" photographs in October 2016.
Arguing for the bail reduction, Short cited the father of three's lifelong residency in Pulaski County, his deep ties to the community and his long tenure -- over 20 years -- as the owner of Turnbo's Auto Center in North Little Rock. He's also done business as Turnbo's Tire Center.
Short disputed that Turnbo knew how young the girl was, noting that she told police she'd said she was 17. Statements that police described at the hearing, taken from jailhouse phone calls recorded between Turnbo and some family and friends, were not presented in context, he told the judge.
Short challenged the accuser's reliability, saying there's evidence she's made false allegations against other men before. The girl also had lied to police, he told the judge.
She first told investigators that she "blacked out" shortly after meeting Turnbo and didn't remember anything that had occurred between them until she woke up and he was assaulting her, the attorney said. He also questioned her mental stability.
Testifying at Tuesday's hearing, North Little Rock detective Julie Eckert said that Turnbo, after his arrest, admitted he'd paid the girl $200 for sex, which they had arranged through a series of text messages. Those messages included Turnbo promising he would "keep her busy" and that he "would teach her some things," the investigator said.
Eckert told the judge that Turnbo had met the teen and her mother through an ad he'd posted on Craigslist, and they'd earlier signed a contract for the girl to model for him while he took photographs. Her brother delivered her to Turnbo's shop at 3004 E. Broadway, where he also lives part time, the morning of Dec. 30 for the photo session, Eckert said. The girl went to police that same day.
She described several sex acts by Turnbo, the detective said. At some point, Turnbo's ex-wife found him with the girl, Eckert told the judge. On one jail phone call, Turnbo says "I did it and now I'm going to have to live with it," Eckert said.
Questioned by prosecutor Erin Driver about phone calls between them, ex-wife Cynthia "Cindy" Turnbo said that they talked so often she could not remember all of their conversations, saying she could not recall him saying "the stupidest thing he'd ever done" was having sex with the girl. Cindy Turnbo also said she did not remember him talking about trying to have the rape charge reduced.
Cindy Turnbo, 51, testified that she'd known him since she was 18 and that they were married from 1987 to 1990 but still remain so close that he sometimes lives with her. She said he's been a devoted father to their children and has been very close to their youngest child, a 15-year-old son. She told the judge that the boy has had a difficult time being separated from his father.
Driver asked the judge for substantial bail to guarantee Beau Turnbo will show up for court. The rape charge carries a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison, and Turnbo's criminal record could prohibit him from seeking parole if he's found guilty, the prosecutor said.
She pointed to the similarities between his criminal cases. In the October 2016 incident, he's charged with three gun counts over his former secretary's accusation that shortly after hiring her, he demanded she "play" model while he took photographs. The woman said she'd answered a Craigslist job ad Turnbo had posted and that he required her to sign a nondisclosure form.
When she declined to pose for pictures, Turnbo pulled out a gun and said, "We are going to play model," court filings show. She said she complied and that he put his hands on her while directing her how to pose, according to an arrest report. The report describes the pictures as "questionable."
He was sentenced to probation for grand larceny in February 1973, then sentenced to 29 years in prison for a pair of house burglaries in September 1975. The prison term included a three-year stint for escape when he was 19. Court records show that he broke out from a locked detention room on the fourth floor of the Pulaski County Courthouse while awaiting trial for burglary in October 1974. He then spent about a week at large before surrendering.
Newspaper accounts say he removed a leg from a wooden chair in the room and used it to hammer out three hinge pins on the door during a lunch recess. The other defendant in the room, a man charged with marijuana trafficking, remained behind, telling authorities, "I'm in enough trouble already."
Metro on 04/04/2018