The Webster Progress-Times

A man accused of beating, raping and abducting a teen-age girl last weekend remains in local custody.

George Lamar Starks, 33, was charged Saturday night by the Webster County Sheriff's Department with aggravated assault, two counts of rape and kidnapping. He had an initial appearance Sunday before Justice Court Judge Jerry Jones, who appointed public defender Stephanie Mallette to represent the defendant. Jones ordered that Starks be held without bond in the county jail and a "hold" has also been placed on him by the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Sheriff Reuben McCluskey and Deputy Jerry Clark said the charges stem from an ordeal which apparently began in the early morning hours Saturday at the victim's residence on Clarkson Road north of Highway 50.

The lawmen said the victim, a 17-year-old, alleged that Starks came into her family's mobile home under the pretense of wanting some water. McCluskey said Starks is a relative of the girl, who was not identified because she is a minor and victim of a sexually oriented crime.

The girl alleged that Starks hit her repeatedly on the head with a copper-bottom pot, beat her severely and raped her two times, in the trailer and in the yard, according to the sheriff. She said he then tried to force her into the trunk of his 1991 Pontiac Sunbird but when she resisted he put her in a passenger seat instead, McCluskey stated.

McCluskey and Clark said the victim stated that Starks then drove to Hays Road west of Highway 9, where the car ran out of gas. They said she reported that he forced her to change out of her bloody clothes into some of his and walk with him to a house for help.

McCluskey said a resident there, after seeing Starks and the injured girl standing outside, did not let them in but called the sheriff's office instead about 6:40 a.m. Deputy Calvin Robinson, who responded to that call, picked both of them up and took the victim to North Mississippi Medical Center-Eupora. During that time she reported what had occurred, the sheriff said.

At about the same time that the call was received from Hays Road, a family member of the victim called the sheriff's office to report a large amount of blood in their home. Investigators later determined that the reports were related.

After responding there, the Sheriff's Department contacted the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and turned the crime scene over to an agent who was sent. Clark assisted him in processing evidence from the house and car. The Eupora Police Department also responded to the crime scene Saturday and assisted. All evidence gathered Saturday and Sunday has been sent to the state Crime Lab and the car has been impounded. McCluskey said blood tests on Starks for the presence of alcohol and drugs are not back yet.

McCluskey said the girl had been beaten severely, with numerous cuts to her head. She was treated at the hospital for her injuries and released later Saturday. In addition to the pot, McCluskey said the victim alleged that Starks hit her with a hammer also. Based upon the blood that was found, the sheriff said, "He apparently beat her in the house, yard and car."

Starks lives on Martin Luther King Jr. Road in the Bluff Springs community. McCluskey said he expects him to next face a probation revocation hearing. Starks was on probation after previously pleading guilty in Circuit Court to uttering forgery and also has a 1995 conviction for sexual battery.

€ Auto Arson

An unrelated case under investigation involves that of a car reported stolen last week in Eupora which was later found completely burned in Choctaw County.

Eupora Police Chief Gregg Hunter said the Police Department received a report last Friday morning from Mykel Hawes that someone had stolen his car while he was working at Plymouth Tube in Industrial Park. The 2000 Ford Mustang was reported to have been stolen some time between 10 p.m. Aug. 26 and 6 a.m. Friday.

The Choctaw County Sheriff's Department located the car south of Sapa Road in Choctaw County around 6 p.m. Friday and contacted the EPD, said Hunter. The car had been completely burned. The vehicle was impounded in Eupora for further investigation, which is being handled by the MBI.

€ Felony Arrests

The Sheriff's Department has also made these past felony arrests:

€ Marlin Davis Randle III, 18, and a juvenile on July 14, charged with two counts of burglary of a dwelling. Affidavits filed by Deputy Tim Mitchell allege that Randle broke into Sam Edwards' residence on June 21 and into Bonnie and Jim Eidson's house on Highway 9 in Bellefontaine on July 12.

Items listed as stolen from the residences included a television, vacuum cleaner, air conditioner, three-piece luggage set, stereo, a game, DVD players, a pistol, rifle, shotgun, pellet gun, DVDs, videotapes, compact discs, rings and watches. McCluskey said most of the stolen items were recovered from an abandoned house in Oktibbeha County. The juvenile's case was handled in Youth Court.

Randle, of Route 3, Box 13A, had an initial hearing in Justice Court on July 16 before Judge Rebecca Ellison. Court records show that she denied bond for Randle because of cases pending in another county and another state, and appointed him an attorney.

€ Steven Ray Degraw, 18, on July 31, charged with burglary of an auto. Anna Cooper alleges in a Justice Court affidavit that Degraw broke into her car in Mantee on July 31. He is out on $1,000 bond following an initial hearing.

€ Ryan Heath Lance, 28, on Aug. 2, charged with possession of firearm by a convicted felon and possession of anhydrous ammonia. The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics assisted in his arrest.

Affidavits filed by an MBN agent charge Lance, having been convicted of possession of meth in Montgomery County on April 6, with possessing a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun and anhydrous ammonia on Aug. 2 at his Route 1, Box 187 residence. He was released from the county jail on Aug. 14 on a $40,000 bond.

€ Kolby Alan Gilbert and Brian L. Hoover, both 17, on Aug. 4, charged as adults with burglary of a dwelling. Affidavits filed by Deputy Calvin Robinson charge them with breaking into Ray Poston's house at 103 Autumn Drive on Aug. 4 and stealing a .38 automatic pistol, a knife, a ring and a pair of brass knuckles.

Ellison set bond at $10,000 each. Gilbert posted bail on Aug. 6 while Hoover remained in jail as of Monday.

€ Joe Benjamin Moore, 47, of Gore Springs on Aug. 9, charged with child abuse. An affidavit filed by Deputy Janae Steadman alleges that Moore, on July 6, whipped or struck a 1-year-old girl, leaving extensive bruising to the child on the buttocks and leg area on Cadaretta Road.

Ellison appointed Moore an attorney on Aug. 10 and set bond for him at $20,000. He remained in the county jail as of Monday. McCluskey said Moore is not related to the child.