Faulkner County jury sentenced 21-year-old Anthony James Thomas to 15 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction Tuesday night after finding him guilty of kidnapping and sexual assault.
Thomas, formerly of 103 Cottonwood Cove, Marion, was alleged to have forced his way into the residence of a 20-year-old female University of Central Arkansas foreign exchange student on July 28, 2008, and proceeded to take money and other items before sexually assaulting the student.
According to 20th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Marcus Vaden, the frightened student ran past Thomas as he was distracted and escaped the second-floor apartment by jumping off the balcony, breaking her back upon impact.
University of Central Arkansas police shortly thereafter arrested Thomas, who Maj. Glenn Stacks of UCAPD said was not a student and had been staying on a regular basis with a girlfriend, a UCA student, in a nearby apartment.
Vaden said that during trial, testimony from the victim indicated that Thomas forced his way into the apartment, using a towel to touch things in an apparent attempt to leave no fingerprints, and demanded that the student give him the money in her purse. Vaden said that the victim also told the jury that Thomas demanded she call her bank to find out how much money she may have had in a bank account before touching her and demanding that she go into a bedroom.
In the apartment where Thomas was alleged to have been staying, UCA police found a quantity of foreign currency and other items stolen from the victim’s apartment, Vaden said, as well as a towel matching the description given by the victim.
Thomas was represented by public defender Lynn Plemmons, who Vaden said presented a good defense based on Thomas’ testimony, but one that was obviously not as strong in the minds of jurors as the prosecution’s case, presented by deputy prosecutors Susan Weaver and Jason Barrett.
this guy was a thug!
This sorry SOB should have gotten the death penalty, as all thugs who create crimes like this should!
How is the exchange student doing?
I'd like to know she recovered from the fall.
She is walking and able to
She is walking and able to function normally, but with some stiffness and pain, from what I've heard; her injuries required metal rods be inserted to support her spine.