The Arkansas Court of Appeals has upheld the convictions of Donald Davidson, a Hot Spring County man sentenced to 85 years in prison for the sexual abuse of three children spanning several decades.
In a decision released Wednesday, May 13, 2026, the court affirmed Davidson’s convictions on three counts of rape and one count of second-degree sexual assault. While the court upheld the jury’s verdict, it remanded the case back to the lower court for a technical correction to the sentencing order to properly reflect Davidson’s status as a habitual offender.
The case against Davidson centered on decades-old allegations that surfaced in June 2023. At that time, a victim identified as MV1 was arrested following an altercation with Davidson and subsequently disclosed the abuse to law enforcement.
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An investigation led by Lieutenant Glen Pye of the Hot Spring County Sheriff’s Department eventually uncovered two other victims, MV2 and MV3.
Trial testimony detailed a pattern of abuse involving family members and acquaintances:
- MV1 and MV2: Younger siblings of Davidson’s wife, Kathy. They testified that Davidson would fondle them during car rides while they sat on his lap or during games of hide-and-seek at home.
- MV3: Davidson’s niece, who testified that the abuse occurred during sleepovers while she was sharing a bed with Davidson’s daughter and wife.
The prosecution also called three additional adult witnesses who testified to similar “prior bad acts,” claiming Davidson had touched them inappropriately when they were children.
On appeal, Davidson’s legal team argued that the victims’ testimonies were inconsistent and lacked credibility. However, Judge Bart F. Virden noted in the court’s opinion that these specific arguments were not properly preserved for appeal because they weren’t raised during the initial trial motions.
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Even if they had been preserved, the court found the evidence sufficient. “The uncorroborated testimony of the victim alone is sufficient to support a rape conviction,” Judge Virden wrote. The court emphasized that it is the jury’s role—not the appellate court’s—to weigh the credibility of witnesses and resolve any inconsistencies in their stories.
The court concluded that the victims’ accounts were neither “physically impossible” nor “inherently improbable.”
The 85-year aggregate sentence includes 25 years for each of the three rape convictions and 10 years for the sexual assault charge. Davidson remains in the custody of the Arkansas Department of Correction.
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