By: C. Tierney

UPDATED 5/1/2024

Yesterday, on the 30th day of April, 2024, a Motion to Dismiss Bryan Donaldson and Randle Blair from the federal indictment was filed by the US Attorney’s Office. This motion comes just 4 days after we published this article. We hope that someone is paying attention to what is happening in the 2nd Judicial District. This is certainly not over.

4/5/2024

On March 13th we published a story about what happens when we don’t tell the entire story. It it meant to be a cautionary tale about being careful who you trust and dragging the truth into the sunlight no matter how hard it is.

You can read the first part here.

Just to recap: Four people were charged in Crittenden County with various charges including Rape and Sex Trafficking in 2021. That state case ended when the Four people were indicted federally on charges of Sex Trafficking and Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking.

Two people were responsible for transporting the victim across state lines from Arizona to Arkansas. Neither of those people have been charged in connection with this case. Why is that? And how will the feds take a sex trafficking case to trial next month case without the individuals responsible for transporting this child across state lines?

In June of 2021 the victim filed a civil lawsuit against Hospitality Solutions, Inc. which was operating a motel in West Memphis called Extendastay. The Extendastay Motel is located at 210 W. Service Road in West Memphis. This civil lawsuit alledged that these traffickers took the victim to the Extendastay Motel where the rape and sex trafficking was perpetrated.

The Complaint states: “Plaintiffs traffickers would drive Plaintiff to defendant’s premises to engage in sex or sexual acts in exchange for money with Randle Blair. Plaintiff was forced to have sexual intercourse with Mr. Blair on approximately five occasions on Defendant’s premises…Defendant allowed Randle Blair, a resident of Earl, Arkansas, which is less than thirty-minutes from West Memphis, to purchase the motel room per hour using cash. Mr. Blair had been renting rooms in this manner with the Defendant for over a year before Plaintiff was brought to Defendant’s premises and raped by Mr. Blair.”

In November of 2023 this lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount. We find it ironic that the motel was held accountable but the two people that brought this child to Arkansas have not been. The victim clearly stated to the prosecutor and at least one Judge that one of these people sexually assaulted her multiple times. Even in this lawsuit it states that this victim’s sex trafficking and abuse began in October of 2020 while she was still in the literal physical possession of two people not named in either of the criminal cases or the civil case. The complaint goes on to specifically and clearly state that the trafficking began the day BEFORE this victim reached Arkansas with these two individuals: “The incident giving rise to this cause of action occurred on or about October 10, 2020 through January 9, 2021, in West Memphis, Crittenden County, Arkansas.”

The civil case relies heavily on the fact that these two people brought the victim to Arkansas from Arizona. They refer to the two people as, “a couple believed to be associated with her traffickers” They rely on it so heavily that it is the first paragraph of your civil lawsuit but these people were NEVER ARRESTED OR CHARGED.

(a)Whoever knowingly—

(1) in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, obtains, advertises, maintains, patronizes, or solicits by any means a person; or

(2) benefits, financially or by receiving anything of value, from participation in a venture which has engaged in an act described in violation of paragraph (1),

knowing, or, except where the act constituting the violation of paragraph (1) is advertising, in reckless disregard of the fact, that means of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion described in subsection (e)(2), or any combination of such means will be used to cause the person to engage in a commercial sex act, or that the person has not attained the age of 18 years and will be caused to engage in a commercial sex act, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).

18 U.S. Code § 1591 – Sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or coercion

Upon looking into these individuals we found disturbing connections between them and elected officials in West Memphis as well as folks at the West Memphis Police Department.

Jarvis McWright is the son of Tyrone McWright who is currently Justice of the Peace for District 5 of the Crittenden County Quorum Court. Tyrone McWright owns a barbershop in West Memphis called Xtreme Cutz.

Why does this matter? Because just 18 days before the federal indictment came down against McClure, Gaines, Donaldson, and Blair, there was an event held by the West Memphis Police Department at Tyrone McWright’s Barbershop. This event was promoted by the Police Department on social media.

Michael Pope served as Chief of Police in West Memphis for 6 months and resigned in disgrace in a letter dated December 21, 2021. His resignation came swifty after it was discovered that Pope had lied about the West Memphis Police Department’s possesion of the physical evidence from the West Memphis Three case. At the time we were all told that his resignation had nothing to do with his lies about the “missing” evidence.

Why would the West Memphis Police Department hold an event at the barber shop belonging to the father of a man accused of raping and sex trafficking the victim in this federal case? This event was held well after it became known to law enforcment that Jarvis McWright transported a minor to Arkansas and sexually assaulted her on more than one occasion.

Perhaps even more disturbing is that this was not the first time Jarvis McWright had been accused of sexually assaulting a child.

In 2016, a report was made to the West Memphis Police Department that Jarvis McWright had been sexually assaulting a minor child while she was sleeping. The victim stated that Jarvis McWright had attempted to pull her pants down in the bed she slept in. Family members removed Jarvis from the home after the victim spoke out about what had been happening. The report was taken by an officer named Stacy Allen.

The report does not indicate that a call was ever made to DHS about the sexual assault occurring in the home as is required by Arkansas state law. Stacy Allen, as a member of law enforcement, is a mandated reporter.

Stacy Allen is also current Justice of the Peace for District 3 in Crittenden County. Allen was accused of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation in 2021 by several female law enforcement officers and dispatchers. The investigator in that case was quoted as saying it would be, “a herculean task to rebuild morale” at the police department. Despite this, Allen was allowed to stay on the job because the person that ultimately makes personnel decisions is the mayor, Marco McClendon. McClendon decided Allen could stay even though these women did not feel safe with him present. Given that Stacy Allen openly supported McClendon’s bid for mayor, this came as a shock to literally no one.

Perhaps what we found most disturbing about the report against Jarvis McWright is that it is classified as a “General Report” and if you’ve ever worked in law enforcement you know what this means. The case was never assigned to any officer to be investigated. Why is that? How many mandated reporters were aware of these allegations and did nothing? How many mandated reporters were aware of the allegations against McWright in the federal case and did nothing?

A Jury Trial is set in the federal case against Victoria McClure, Bryan Donaldson, Randle Blair, and Ricky Gaines for 5/6/2024 at 9:30 a.m. in Helena in Courtroom #314 before Judge Brian Miller.