Rogers Man, 45, Accused Of Kissing And Groping Neighbor Girl Who Played With His Sons

ROGERS, Ark. — A Rogers man whose house was the neighborhood play spot was charged Monday with sexually assaulting a girl who came over almost daily to play with his four sons.

Richard Nathan Pierce, 45, is charged in Benton County Circuit Court with second-degree sexual assault, a Class B felony, and offensive relations with a child, a misdemeanor. A judge found probable cause and issued a warrant Oct. 8, he was booked into the Benton County jail Oct. 9, and the case was opened in circuit court Monday with a no-contact order.

Rogers police took a report Oct. 5 that Pierce had kissed the girl on the mouth four days earlier at her own home, according to an affidavit by Detective Calvin Frierson. Her grandmother later told Frierson that Pierce had come by to return shoes and socks the children left at his house, that the girl leaned toward him in the doorway as he left, and that the girl then said Pierce had kissed her and “taught her how to kiss.”

The girl also said Pierce had touched her breasts under her shirt, the affidavit says.

In a forensic interview at the Children’s Advocacy Center, the girl said Pierce touched her breasts and genitals under her clothes while they sat on a gray bench in his garage, and that he had kissed her there and again at her home while her grandmother was present, Frierson wrote. She described the garage’s ceiling lights, fans, tables and bicycles. The affidavit does not give her age.

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Pierce came to the police department voluntarily Oct. 6, the affidavit says. He told Frierson his house is where the neighborhood kids come to play, that the girl was there three or four times a week and that the two often sat together. He said he would not intentionally touch her breast but blamed memory gaps, and said he did not believe the girl was lying.

The girl’s family has told her she is not allowed back at Pierce’s house, according to the affidavit. Second-degree sexual assault carries five to 20 years in prison. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jackson Hannah approved the charges.

Pierce’s bond has been set at $100,000.