By Terrica Hendrix
News-Leader staff
A former Howard County jailer was arrested last week for allegedly having sexual intercourse with a female inmate while she was in custody at the jail.
Reggie Marks, 42, of Mineral Springs, is expected to be charged for the alleged incident that occurred in the Howard County Jail on Sept. 8, according to Sheriff Bryan McJunkins.
The alleged victim told Howard County investigators that Marks came to her cell. Howard County Deputy Timmy Floyd informed Investigator Joey Davis of a “possible rape of a female inmate,” according to the search and seizure affidavit prepared by Davis.
According to the affidavit, Marks was checking the F cell and observed the victim “crying because she had not spoken with her mother in several days,” the affidavit stated. Marks told the victim he would let her use a telephone after he finished the jail checks, the affidavit stated.
Marks allegedly led the inmate down into a storage room at the jail and she told Davis and Investigator Blake Eudy that the two had intercourse.
According to the sheriff, Marks was terminated from his position on Sept. 15 and was immediately taken into custody.
Marks was transported to the Pike County Jail and made his first appearance in Pike County Circuit Court last Monday and was released on a $7,500 bond.
As of Tuesday morning, Marks has not been charged.
Marks’ alleged victim was a 28-year-old female who was in the county jail after being sentenced to four years in the Arkansas Department of Correction for violating her probation on a 2016 conviction for drug delivery and possession charges.
She has since been sent to the ADC.
