A 41-year-old Conway man is sitting in the Van Buren County Detention Center on a $1 million bond, accused of raping and sexually assaulting three teenagers he had taken in at a Clinton business under the promise of a boat trip. Matthew Wayne West now faces five counts of rape, two counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of furnishing alcohol to a minor.
The Log Cabin Democrat reported that West faces charges. According to Yahoo News, an officer was dispatched to a Clinton gas station on Aug. 5, just before 1 a.m., where he met three teenagers, ages 13 to 15, who said they had been made to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes and were asked to have sex with each other.
Per an arrest affidavit cited by the Log Cabin Democrat, West had brought the teens from their homes to the business near the gas station, where he was supposed to take them on a boat trip that Saturday. One of the teens called his mother from the gas station after first calling 911, the station's report notes.
Affidavit Describes Assault in a Back Bedroom
The teens told investigators that West tried to perform sexual acts on each of them and forced them to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes, per the arrest affidavit. West allegedly took the teens into a bedroom at the business, where he tried to have sex with them and force them to have sex with each other, according to the affidavit. The same document states he also tried to have sex with the teens and force them to have sex with each other, as the Yahoo News account of the affidavit describes it.
The affidavit further alleged that West fondled the 11-year-old brother of one of the boys, according to Yahoo News. Three other minors ultimately accused West of sexually assaulting them in connection with the case.
Police Search Clinton Business
Police searched the Clinton business where the alleged assaults occurred.
While checking records, a detective found that West had a Montana criminal record, the Log Cabin Democrat reported, though the publicly available accounts do not detail the specific prior charges. Police arrested West when they executed a search warrant at the business on Aug. 8, according to the same report.
Charges Filed Months Later, Pretrial Hearing Set
West was not served with arrest warrants until two months after his initial arrest — he received two warrants on Oct. 8 and a third on Oct. 13, per the Log Cabin Democrat's reporting. He remains in custody at the Van Buren County Detention Center on the $1 million bond.
West's next court appearance is a pretrial hearing scheduled for Nov. 11, the outlet reports. No information has been made public about what happens at that hearing, and whether West has entered a plea or obtained legal representation remains unknown.
