LAFAYETTE COUNTY, Ark. - A Buckner, Ark., couple accused of sexually abusing a young girl have been arrested on charges of rape by the Lafayette County Sheriff's Office.
Donna Jinks, 48, and James Gannon, 56, came to the attention of law enforcement in December after a report concerning an outcry of sexual abuse made by an 8-year-old girl was made, according to a probable cause affidavit. The child allegedly told a forensic interviewer at the Texarkana Children's Advocacy Center that Jinks, to whom she is related, and Gannon, Jinks' husband, had touched her inappropriately "a couple of years ago."
The girl gave a graphic and disturbing account that she described as a "secret."
The couple was arrested June 14, according to Lafayette County Sheriff Obie Sims. Gannon is currently free on a $100,000 bond. Jinks' bond is also set at $100,000 and she remains in custody.
In addition to the pending rape charge, Jinks is being held on a motion to revoke a five-year probation she began serving in September 2018 in Lafayette County for identity fraud. Allegations in the motion to revoke include Jinks' recent arrest for rape and a March 8 arrest in Hempstead County, Arkansas, for possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Jinks was stopped in the parking lot of a Walmart in Hope, Arkansas, for a broken taillight, according to a probable cause affidavit. Officers allegedly noticed Jinks appeared under the influence of methamphetamine and decided to search her car when they discovered she was on probation with a search waiver on file.
Jinks allegedly told the officers it was her "son's stuff" they found in a brown sock in the car's glove box. Jinks allegedly possessed under two grams of crystal meth and a pipe commonly used to smoke the drug.
If found guilty of rape, Jinks and Gannon face 10 to 40 years or life in prison. The rape charges against Jinks and Gannon and the probation revocation against Jinks are pending in the 8th Judicial District South. The drug charges facing Jinks are pending in the 8th Judicial District North.