James Bennett Powell (File image via the Izard County Sheriff’s Office)
A Melbourne man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to raping a child.
Sixteenth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Tim Weaver sentenced James Bennett Powell, 21, to 360 months in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Powell received credit for 362 days already served in jail.
The sentencing followed Powell’s negotiated guilty pleas to two counts of rape, three counts of second-degree sexual assault, and two counts of sexual indecency with a child. He also pleaded guilty to one count of refusal to submit to arrest.
The investigation began in May 2025 after the Izard County Sheriff’s Office received a report of an alleged sexual assault. Following a forensic interview with the victim at the Independence County Child Advocacy Center, investigators interviewed Powell.
According to an affidavit, Chief Investigator Geoffrey Watts stated that Powell admitted to “numerous acts of inappropriate and deviate sexual activity” with the child.
Watts noted that Powell became “passively and actively resistant” while being taken into custody, requiring multiple officers to restrain and handcuff him.
In addition to the prison sentence, Weaver ordered Powell to register as a sex offender and pay $2,589 in court costs and fines. The payments will be made in $100 monthly installments following his release.
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