A Garland man is facing 19 felony counts of rape, incest, sexual offenses and crimes against nature following a Clinton Police Department investigation last year. Warrants were issued in November and the man was taken into custody in Fayetteville earlier this week.
Richard Alford Staton, 51, of 14863-A Garland Hwy., Garland, was charged with four counts of incest, three counts of second degree forcible rape, six counts of second degree sexual offense and six counts of crimes against nature.
Fayetteville Police authorities located Staton on Wednesday and informed Clinton Police officials, who traveled to Fayetteville station to pick him up. Clinton officers subsequently transported Staton to Sampson County, where he was interviewed at the Clinton Police Department before being served the charges, stemming from warrants issued Nov. 22, 2017. An investigation was launched four months earlier, in July.
”After we started the investigation, he moved from Clinton over to Fayetteville, where he had been living and working,” said Clinton Police Chief Donald Edwards. “We entered him as wanted.”
Edwards said the alleged offenses were reported to authorities on July 26, 2017. Through a partnership with the Sampson County Child Advocacy Center, which advocates for young victims, especially those of physical abuse, the police department was able to determine that offenses had been occurring during the early part of 2017 on a relative of Staton’s. The victim’s age and their relation to Staton was not disclosed, so as to protect their identity.
“There is a charge for each crime committed — the incidents we could identify,” Edwards said Friday. “Everything was found to have occurred in 2017. We do not expect any additional charges at this time, but if anything comes to light or we receive any additional information, we will pursue more charges.”
After receiving the report of the alleged sex offenses in July, police reached out to the Sampson County Child Advocacy Center, another arm of the Department of Social Services. There, young victims are interviewed once, and various agencies — including law enforcement — gather information at the same time, in an effort to limit the stress on children and their families.
A multi-disciplinary team, consisting of members from law enforcement, Social Services, prosecution, medical providers, Guardian ad Litem, mental health professionals and school officials, work together on the case. The team uses its resources to review all cases and provide assistance, advocacy and protection to victims, with the Child Advocacy Center and its director Shannon Blanchard playing a key role in that effort.
“It is a good partnership for Sampson County,” Edwards said of the CAC. “I can’t overstate how important the CAC is in these types of cases. It is very critical for the investigation and subsequent prosecution of these kinds of cases.”
Staton was placed in the Sampson County Detention Center under $1.5 million bond.