A former Johnson County Deputy Sheriff avoided jail time Thursday on a negotiated plea of felony third degree sexual assault in the Fifth Circuit Division 1 court room of Judge William Pearson in Clarksville.
Robert G. Retford, 57, who stood accused of assaulting a woman he met and aided during a domestic dispute call in November of 2016, was sentenced to 72 months of supervised probation in the court proceeding.
Calls to Johnson County prosecuting attorney David Gibbon attorney went unanswered on Friday afternoon, as did calls to the chambers of Circuit Judge Pearson.
The sentence was posted on Arkansas Connect on Friday. There was no indication on the post whether Retford will have to register as a sexual offender.
Retford had been arrested on the sexual assault charge in November 2016. That month, the prosecutor told 40/29 News Retford could spend up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Prosecuting attorney Gibbon told the press on Thursday that the victim was okay with the negotiated plea.
According to the arrest affidavit filed in the case after an Arkansas State Police investigation, the victim had reported the sexual assault to authorities shortly after driving to Mercy Regional Medical Center.
Retford had been the investigating officer on the original domestic dispute and told the victim that he was going to “help her.”
He then took her to the Budget Inn in Clarksville and provided a room for her, picking her up the next day. Retford took the victim to a residence in Lamar.
During a session in the car, Retford put his hands in her pants and touched her vagina, the affidavit also reports that Retford discussed incest fantasies with the victim.
After taking the victim to a Dollar General to buy “pajama pants, shirt, deodorant and stuff like that” Retford told her he would keep helping her as long as she helped him. She said she thought at first he wanted her to be a snitch but then realized he was talking about sexual favors.
Once they got back to the Lamar residence, there was more sexual interaction and “dirty talk.” She said she was then sexually assaulted with a black object “like a flashlight or a baton.”
She said in the statement Retford then urinated on her and forced her to drink his urine.
After the assault, she told her sister and a friend about the situation and was encouraged to go to the hospital. She said she did not know Retford until the day of the domestic assault.
Retford admitted much of the behavior in the affidavit when he was interrogated by the Arkansas State Police. He said he told the victim she needed to keep their encounter “between themselves.”
Where is the justice?!? This filthy, disgusting, piece of *#2! should be rotting in jail with the other filthy, disgusting, piece of *#2! who also assaulted her. Disgraceful!