Man Arrested For Sexual Assault

Elvonta Harden 20-years-old of Hughes, Arkansas was taken into custody yesterday by SFC Investigators without incident after investigators received information that Harden was hiding at an apartment in Marianna, Arkansas .  At the time of his arrest Harden was found hiding under a bed and was armed with a handgun.  The gun recovered is the same gun investigators believe that was used during the sexual assault.  On January 6, 2025, deputies responded to Hughes, Arkansas after the mother of the male juvenile reported that her son was forced at gun point to an abandoned house on Adams Street in Hughes and was sexually assaulted.  The victim was taken to Crittenden Baptist Hospital in West Memphis where SFC investigators were able to interview the victim and Elvonta was identified as the suspect. The victim was transferred to UAMS in Little Rock for the sexual assault.  Investigators were able to obtain arrest warrants for Harden for Rape and Kidnapping, both Class Y Felonies and he is now in custody at the St. Francis County Detention Center.  Harden bond was set at $250,000 dollars and is scheduled to be arraigned today.  Harden will face an additional gun charge for Possession of a Firearm by a Certain Person, a Class B Felony where he was convicted in St. Francis Circuit Court for Battery 1st Degree on December 3, 2025 and received seven years supervised probation. The St. Francis County Sheriff Department is pleased to announce that this violent and dangerous person is off the streets and can longer pose a threat anyone else.  The Sheriff Department would like to thank the Marianna Police Department for their assistance in this matter.