An Izard County man is facing multiple charges of sexual assault in the second degree, class B felonies and one county of sexually grooming a child, class D felony, after an investigation by the Izard County Sheriff’s Office (ICSO) and Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division (ASP-CACD)
According to the affidavit filed March 10, on Feb. 28, an investigator with the ICSO was contacted by the ASP-CACD regarding a child victim more than three decades younger than the suspect, 42-year-old Gerald Lawrence Villneff Jr.
According to the hotline report, the victim had allegedly been sexually assaulted by Villneff on multiple occasions for an extended period of time.
“During the interview, Victim 1 made credible disclosures about five separate incidents in which an adult male, identified by Victim 1 as ‘Junior’ Villneff, had sexually assaulted her,” the affidavit stated.
During one of the earlier assaults, the victim said Villneff had “whispered he had a crush on her and that she shouldn’t tell anyone”, the victim was less than 10-years-old at the time.
The victim shared graphic details with investigators and when asked why the victim had come forward, she stated she was scared and that the incidents had made her feel “a lot uncomfortable”.
On March 3, the ICSO received an anonymous tip through the department’s “submit a tip” button on the department’s website which stated “Junior Velneif is a child molester, I saw on his phone kid porn, doll porn and animal porn… he also baby sitting for a family member and once I checked his backpack before he left and inside his backpack was dildos he had made and so many things that shook me to my core. If you time it correctly, you will find what I saw”.
The tip corresponded with statements made by the victim regarding the assaults and images shown to the victim by Vilneff.
On March 6, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Villneff’s residence. There were six individuals at the residence at the time.
Villneff’s phone was seized at the time and a series of interviews were conducted with parties relevant to the investigation.
Investigators were told Villneff would watch pornography frequently using the cellphone. One of the websites mentioned had also been mentioned by the victim who had been forced to watch pornographic material.
One witness stated Villneff would carve phallic and other sexually suggestive objects out of different materials.
Villneff had also carved a cat-like items and painted it purple giving it to the victim. The cat-like item was carved from foam and was named “Catnip”, but it was later discovered by the victim that Villneff had hidden a glass sex toy inside of “Catnip”.
Another witness stated that Villneff had carved “catnip” after a cartoon character seen on YouTube; however, there were some distinct differences, such as Villineff creating the tale of the carving to resemble a penis.
Although the backpacks in the home were empty, authorities did find an object described by the victim hidden inside an electrical box in the home.
As a result, Villneff was arrested and taken into custody and is being held at the Izard County Jail on a bond of $100,000.
The investigation is ongoing and additional charges may be added at a later time.
Lauren is a an award-winning journalist who decided after 10 years of newspaper experience to venture out. Hallmark Times was born.
