Arkansas fugitive arrested in Troy

A man who fled Arkansas last summer

after posting bond for child rape charges was arrested without

incident from his Troy residence last week, according to Chief of

Police Bob McLeod.

Steven Carl Williams, 52, of

Bentonville, Ark., made his home in Troy for a period of what

McLeod guesses was about six months before Arkansas authorities

tracked him down and obtained a nationwide warrant for his

arrest.

The fugitive faces charges related to

the alleged rape of three girls – ages 12, 13 and 14 – that

Williams was entrusted with as their “talent coach,” according to

reports from the Benton County (Ark.) Daily Record.

One alleged victim claimed Williams

told her that he had worked with several famous actresses before

they became stars, according to court documents obtained by the

Daily Record.

McLeod suspects that Williams had been

using a false last name while residing in Troy. When Arkansas

authorities inquired about Williams, “the name didn’t ring a bell,”

McLeod said, and it didn’t show up in his computer system.

However, McLeod recognized Williams as

soon as he viewed the man’s mugshot.

Bentonville police arrested Williams in

early 2009 on sexual assault charges. Authorities learned that he

skipped town when he didn’t appear at a hearing last summer less

than a month before his July 27 trial date.

Benton County prosecutors requested

last week that Lincoln County Justice Court set Williams’s bond

higher than the approximately $181,000 that he posted in Arkansas

last year before fleeing the state.

Williams’s bond was set at $350,000 at

his initial appearance in justice court last Thursday. He chose not

to waive his rights to a formal extradition process.