A man accused of molesting the daughter of his girlfriend's former roommate 13 years ago at a Texarkana, Ark., apartment complex made his first court appearance in Miller County this week.
Gerald Herbert Lowery Sr., 57, appeared Tuesday before Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson for an initial appearance on charges of rape and sexual indecency with a child. The charges stem from alleged misconduct with a girl who was 6 when she lived with her mother and another woman in a unit of the Links Apartments, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account.
Lowery was the boyfriend of the roommate of the alleged victim's mother; he also lived in the apartment.
Texarkana, Ark., Police Department detectives determined that Lowery, his former girlfriend, the alleged victim and the alleged victim's mother shared the apartment in 2004 and 2005.
The alleged victim told investigators Lowery would often watch her while her mother and Lowery's girlfriend were at work. The alleged victim, now 19, described being sexually abused at the apartment and in other locations in Texarkana.
Detectives allegedly spoke to Lowery's girlfriend in October. She said she and Lowery were temporarily living in a Little Rock hotel.
"(Lowery's girlfriend) advised me she was in the process of getting her and her children away from Lowery, unbeknownst to Lowery," the affidavit states.
Lowery's brother allegedly contacted Texarkana, Ark., detectives after learning of the allegations concerning the woman named in Lowery's current Miller County charges. The brother allegedly told detectives he suspects Lowery has abused many of his female relatives and that the two physically fought and became estranged 13 years ago as a result. The brother said several female relatives who are now adults confided in him that Lowery molested them when they were as young as 5.
"I was able to contact one of these victims who stated she had been a victim of Gerald Lowery when she was 5 years of age, but she did not wish to speak of the incidents due to it being 40 years ago," the affidavit states. "She went on to say that she knew her sister was a victim of Gerald Lowery's as well."
The alleged victim's mother told detectives she became aware of the abuse in October when her daughter, who had been having nightmares, finally spoke of the abuse she allegedly suffered as a 6-year-old in Texarkana.
Lowery is being held in the Miller County jail. Bail is set at $500,000. If convicted of rape, he faces 10 to 40 years or life in prison.