BENTONVILLE -- A Sulphur Springs man will spend the remainder of his life in prison for raping a girl.
Thomas Charles Hartley, 51, was found guilty Wednesday of two counts of rape. The jury recommended he receive life imprisonment on both counts.
The jury also convicted him of sexual assault and sexual grooming of a child. The jury recommended he be sentenced to 20 years for rape and six years for the grooming conviction.
Jurors deliberated 90 minutes before returning with the guilty verdicts. They deliberated almost 30 minutes before returning with the sentencing recommendations.
Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren followed the jury's recommendations and handed down the two life sentences. He sentenced Hartley to 20 years for sexual assault and six years for the grooming. The sentences will be served concurrently.
Hartley was arrested July 2, 2020. The girl reported the abuse started when she was 7 years old and ended when she was 8, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Jury selection was Tuesday.
The girl, who is now 11 and in the sixth grade, testified at the trial Wednesday. Sarah Phillips, deputy prosecutor, asked her what she likes to do. The girl said she likes to draw and paint along with watching television and YouTube.
Phillips asked her if she knew Hartley.
"We called him Tommy," the girl replied.
Phillips then asked her if anyone ever touched her in an inappropriate way.
"Tommy," the girl said.
The girl testified sometimes Hartley would make her take off her clothes and touch her.
"Sometimes I was scared and sometimes I let it go," she said.
She testified Hartley would watch pornography while sexually abusing her.
"Do you think you can recognize Tommy in the courtroom today," Phillips asked.
"Do I have to?" the girl asked.
She identified Hartley as the man wearing a gray shirt.
Defense attorneys didn't cross-examine the girl.
"We are so proud that this young girl had the courage to face her abuser in court and tell her story," Phillips said. "We are grateful to the Benton County sheriff's office for their tireless work on this case and the jury in delivering the appropriate sentences for such serious crimes. We hope that the victim and her family can close the legal chapter of this story and move forward in healing."
The girl's mother testified she trusted Hartley and often left her children alone with him.
Hartley didn't testify during the trial or sentencing phase.
Hanna Murphy, one of Hartley's attorneys, told jurors her client would have to serve 70% of the sentences for the rape convictions. She asked the jury to have mercy and fairness for Hartley when sentencing him.
Verity Cameron, deputy prosecutor, told jurors that Hartley hadn't shown any mercy or fairness to the girl. Cameron said Hartley took the girl to a shed and made her watch pornography when he was raping her.
"He is not deserving of mercy that he did not show that little girl," Cameron said.
Hartley declined to make any statement before the judge sentenced him.