Bella Vista Man Charged With Sexually Assaulting Girl Who Told Camp Counselor He Made Her Touch Him

BELLA VISTA, Ark. — A Bella Vista man was charged Tuesday with sexually assaulting a girl who lives in his household after she told a camp counselor that he made her touch him in exchange for paying for her trips.

Taylor Jared Kramer, 42, is charged in Benton County Circuit Court with second-degree sexual assault, a Class B felony, along with sexually grooming a child, sexual indecency with a child and second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor. Bella Vista police Detective Tony King asked the court to set bond at $150,000.

Kramer was booked into the Benton County jail Oct. 10 and again Oct. 12 as the charges were added, jail records show.

King wrote in a bond affidavit that he was notified Oct. 10 of a child-abuse hotline referral and that the girl was interviewed that evening at a children’s advocacy center in Little Flock. She told the interviewer she had confided in a counselor at camp, who reported it. The affidavit redacts her name, age and relationship to Kramer.

The girl said that since school started in August, about once a week, Kramer has had her come into his room and “tickle” him, which she described as rubbing his legs and stomach while he pulled his pants partway down, the affidavit says. She said he grabbed her hand and placed it on his genitals, told her how to rub him and held her wrists or ankles when she tried to leave.

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She said Kramer called it payment for things he did for her and told her the week before her camp trip that he would not pay for a retreat unless she gave him a massage, according to the affidavit. She said his “5 minutes” usually meant 30 minutes to an hour, and that semen had gotten on her hands and on a green sweater that was still in her camp bag. Officers took the sweater as evidence.

Kramer, interviewed at his home afterward, said the tickling happens throughout the house and that he does not have a sexual relationship with the girl, King wrote. Asked whether it was a quid pro quo, Kramer said no, then said that if he does things for her it would be nice for her to do things for him, King wrote. He said she had never done anything inappropriate to him.

When King told Kramer that the girl had described him ejaculating, Kramer “just responded with ‘okay,'” the affidavit says. He said he masturbates every now and then, usually into a sock, and that there was probably semen on his sheets. He said he did not think the girl was lying, and that he “didn’t realize he was putting her in an uncomfortable situation.”

Second-degree sexual assault carries five to 20 years in prison. A no-contact order was issued with the charges. No attorney was listed for Kramer in the court file Tuesday.